The Great St Valentine's Day Fiasco
by Pureauthor
Summary: With Valentine's Day just a week away, Ivan has precious little time to let his love for Sheba be realized. Isaac and crew being helpful, however, he can do without. Complete!
1. Sunday

The Great St. Valentine's Day Fiasco

Well, I guess you could think of this as a semi-prequel to "The Perfect Gift". Done in the light of the upcoming Valentine's Day (although with my mom trying to limit the time I spend on the comp, this is liable to get finished by Easter), the story of how two very spec- aw, heck. I'm not fooling anyone. It's Ivan and Sheba pairings, that all I do anyways.

Warning to Valeshippers: Mud + Flame shipping inside. You can skip those parts if you want.

Dedicated to: 8BTFreek, for constant reviewing of my works, and encouragement. Go Freek! (waves flag)

Disclaimer: You know, if I _did_ own this, Ivan would have saved Sheba on that lighthouse.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sunday

"Okay, try the chicken."

_munch munch munch_

"Actually, that's the potatoes."

_chew chew chew_

"Wait… maybe it _is_ the chicken."

_chomp chomp chomp_

"Or maybe it's the salad."

Ivan leaned over, politely cupping his hand over his mouth as he spat an unidentifiable black lump of what he presumed was food onto the plate. Staring at the rest of the food, all similarly blackened masses, he sighed.

"Garet, you're a great friend, a powerful fighter, and all that, but never let it be said that you can cook a half-decent meal."

"I concur." Felix spoke as he spat a piece of fish burnt enough to be considered charcoal across the room straight into the wastebasket. "You should not be allowed within twenty feet of a kitchen for the rest of your life."

Garet sighed. "Come on, guys. My cooking's not _that_ bad! Isaac! You know my cooking's good, right?"

Isaac kept silent, merely chewing his food. Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Isaac?'

Isaac shook his head, although Ivan thought he could hear a few strange sounds from the back of his throat.

"Hang on." Lifting an arm, the young Jupiter Adept focused, and a slightly purple glow surrounded him. Dropping the arm, he sighed again. "Your spinach somehow glued his mouth shut, dear Garet."

Picard, who had not eaten any of the food, but merely drunk from a cup of water, lifted it. "Well, now that we've had our share of victuals, shall we all proceed with the discussion?"

"Wait a second." The voice came from Jenna, who was the only person in the room who had managed to eat a fair portion of the… stuff on her plat. Finishing her last bite, she sat back with a loud _burp!_ Staring at his sister, Felix made a disgusted face.

"How on Weyard can you stand to _eat_ any of that junk?"

Jenna merely shrugged. "When you've married someone for two years, you learn how to eat his or her cooking."

Isaac, mouth finally free of the Spinach of Doom™, leaned back, smiling slightly. "I still remember that Valentine's Day. That was when you and Garet finally tied the knot."

"And received the blessings of the Psynergy Stone." Garet interjected.

"Yeah, yeah," Ivan muttered. "We're all familiar with the legend of Vale's Psynergy Stone. How every Valentine's Day, it'll choose one couple to bestow it's blessing on, and that guarantees they'll stay together forever, and all that."

"Which is why we're here." Isaac put in. "We need to pair _you_ up with Sheba. Before Valentine's Day, too." No one noticed the slight shadow of discomfort that passed Felix's face.

Ivan leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "Isaac, you know that Valentine's Day is only a week away. You also know I'm crazy about Sheba, and-"

"And that is precisely why we need success." Picard interrupted, a wry smile on his face. "We have only five- six, if you count today- days before Valentine's Day, and we need to get to work."

Ivan rolled his eyes. "Look, the problem is, Sheba doesn't feel that way about me, okay? She never pays attention to me, whenever I look at her she's staring in the opposite direction, and I… I just don't see her doing that, alright?"

"How do you know?" Garet asked, a coy smile on his face. "How do you know that she's not looking?"

"Because I would have _seen_ her doing so if she was!" Ivan let out an exasperated sigh. "What makes you think I wouldn't notice her looking?"

"Well," Isaac put in. "She looks at you from close up, not far away like you do. After careful observation, we've noticed then whenever we're all together, she tends to gravitate to you. She also laughs at your lame jokes even if no one else does, and she was the only one who voluntarily finished your bowl of chili pancakes. In conclusion, and based on similar habits I've recorded from how me and Garet behave around Mia and Jenna respectively, I'd say she's in love with you."

"She just doesn't know it yet." Garet murmured almost to himself.

"Okay, fine." Ivan leaned back, fixing Isaac with a hard glare. "So how am I supposed to let her know? Just walk up and tell her?"

"No!" Isaac shot up. "That is the _worst_ thing you can do! You have to show it to her. In your actions. Which is where phase one comes in." He turned to regard the two female Adepts in the room. "Jenna, Mia. Phase one is information gathering. You two are to penetrate Sheba's residence, and extricate whatever information concerning how she feels towards Ivan possible. You are all aware of your mission parameters, and this operation begins at- "

"Isaac, Isaac?" Garet raised an eyebrow. "You're starting to sound like Patton."

Isaac blinked. "Who's Patton?"

"Um…" Garet shrugged. "I dunno who, but you just remind me of that name."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Okay, and questions?"

"Um, yeah." Jenna said. "Exactly how are we supposed to get the info we need? It's not like we can just go up and say 'Hey! You like Ivan or not?'"

"You're girls, right?" Isaac said. "Use your women's way of just talking."

Mia rolled her eyes. "Yes, this will be _so_ easy." Sighing, she got to her feet. "Fine, fine, we'll go."

Ivan gave a tiny snort before slumping back in his chair. He had a _really_ bad feeling about this.

The fact the Felix seemed to be glaring at him didn't help too much either.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sheba slowly hummed an indistinct tune to herself as she bustled around the kitchen. Living alone got boring sometimes, but solitude, especially when you wanted it, was usually a given.

"Watch out for the-"

_Crash!_

"Lamp…"

Okay, solitude barring the nine Jupiter Djinn which had a strange genetic trait of being physically incapable of shutting up for more than two minutes at a stretch. Sheba rolled her eyes as she headed into the living room. Yup. All of them busy staring at the remains of a glass lamp on the floor. With a sigh, she motioned to the Djinn to absolve what they started. 

Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

"Coming!" Sheba called out as she left the djinn to their task. Walking over to the door, she opened it, smile widening as she saw Jenna standing in the doorway. Behind her, Mia was looking rather… uncomfortable. Sheba shrugged it off, and opened the door wider.

"You wanna come in?"

Mia snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, yeah! Sure, thanks." With that, she entered the house. Sheba raised an eyebrow as she watched Mia's Mercury Djinn fall in after her, all in line and led by Fizz, who was belting out a steady rhythm.

"One, two! One, two! That's it, boys, keep up the pace!"

"Don't ask." Jenna muttered as she brushed by Sheba. "Just don't ask."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay," Isaac thumped his hand on the table, rattling it somewhat. "Now that Mia and Jenna have set out to gather information, our current task is to transform Ivan into a babe-magnet."

Garet raised an eyebrow as he stared at the stony-faced Jupiter Adept sitting on the chair, arms crossed, and looking ready to kill. And he would probably have already done so if Picard had not tied him securely to said chair with two meters of good rope. "I think it's going to be a slightly difficult."

"Nonsense." Isaac waved Garet's misgivings off with a brush of his hand. "It will be a total success with this!" From his pack, he withdrew a tiny bottle.

"Dare I ask what that is?" Ivan said resignedly.

"Perfume!" Isaac exclaimed, waving the bottle excitedly in the air. " It's _guaranteed_ to work! Once Sheba gets a sniff of this, she'll be all over you!"

"Joy." Ivan muttered as he rolled his eyes. Not that he didn't _want_ Sheba to be all over him. In fact, most of his current fantasies generally involved just that. It was just that he wasn't exactly too certain about the reliability factor of anything that had to do with Isaac.

"Well, then!" Isaac prattled on. "Let's try it out!" Uncorking the bottle, he splashed a generous amount of a strange, brown coloured liquid all over Ivan, causing him to flinch. Nodding to Picard, he indicated for the bonds on Ivan to be removed.

After freeing himself from the ropes, Ivan shot Isaac a death-glare. Isaac didn't even  notice, but began hurriedly pushing him out the door. "Go to Sheba's! Once she smells this, she'll be head over heels in love with you! Go!" With a last shove, he managed to push the struggling Jupiter adept out of the door, dumping him unceremoniously onto the floor in the process.

Ivan picked himself off the floor, dusting himself off. Sighing slightly, he began walking towards Sheba's house. There couldn't be any harm in trying, right?

Inside the house, Isaac was currently pacing around with ill-contained excitement. "Once this succeeds, he'll practically _worship_ me!" He said.

Garet meanwhile, was being much more reserved about this. Eyeing the bottle on the table, he picked it up. Guaranteed to work, huh? If this really did what it said, maybe it'd be useful for him and Jenna… Turning it over, he began to read the label.

Picard looked around uneasily. "Where is Felix? I thought he would be coming."

Isaac shrugged. "I dunno, he said he wasn't feeling too good."

Just then, Garet gave a long, low sigh. "Isaac?"

"Yes?"

"When Kraden gave us reading lessons, you weren't paying too much attention, were you?"

Isaac blinked. "I guess not. Why?"

Garet stood up, holding the bottle in his hands. "Because if you did, you would have realized that _this_ is not perfume." He sighed slowly. "It's barbecue sauce."

And far away, they heard Ivan screaming, accompanied with the growls of Mia's pet Mauler.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, to what do I owe this visit?" Sheba asked jokingly as she poured three cups of water for her friends. Jenna, for her part, merely smiled and replied.

"What? We need a reason for everything now?"

"Seriously, though." Mia spoke up, her cool voice flowing through the room. "We came to pressure you into getting a boyfriend."

Sheba nearly choked. "_What!?_"

Jenna raised an eyebrow. "It's true, though. You're the only one of us three who hasn't a boyfriend."

Sheba leaned over and gave Jenna a light shove. "Yeah? Well, maybe I don't _want_ a boyfriend!"

Mia chuckled. "Oh, really? And why would you not want a boyfriend, mmm?"

"Can we not talk about this?"

Jenna acted shocked. "Why, but Sheba, you _did_ ask why we were here."

Sheba shot Jenna a _look_ before continuing. "Regardless, in response to your question, Mia, a boyfriend requires commitment I am not willing to give, I think boys fawning over me is slightly unsettling, and last, there is no one even if I wanted one."

"No one?" Mia asked, a hint of sarcasm about her voice. "What about… let's see… Ivan?"

"Ivan?" For reasons she didn't quite understand, Sheba felt a strange hotness behind her ears. "Ivan… Ivan is…" She found herself stammering as she tried to figure out just how to tell the two of them they were dead wrong. "H-he's just a friend. Just a friend. Yeah."

"Oh, _really_." Jenna intoned in a bored voice. "Then why is your face red? Specifically, why did your face turn red only at the mention of Ivan?"

Sheba blushed even deeper. "Look, regardless of whatever fantasies you may choose to construct about me and Ivan, there is _nothing_ between us. And if he were here right now, he'd testify to that."

Mia seemed about to say something, then thought better of it. Jenna, meanwhile, seemed entirely skeptical. "I'm _so_ sure, Sheba."

"You should be." Sheba replied. "You very well should be."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh, come _on_! I said I was sorry!" Isaac cried as he cast Potent Cure on Ivan again. This, however, did little to soothe the Jupiter Adept's fiery temper.

"Oh, yes, Isaac! I am so grateful for your wonderful apology." He muttered. "I will be sure to thank you for it with a well-aimed Spark Plasma once I can feel my arms again."

Garet stood nearby, looking down on Ivan with a bemused expression. "Ivan, I think you got out of the wrong side of bed today."

"No, I did not. However, I probably made a mistake by getting out of bed at all." Ivan winced as Isaac dabbed one of the wounds on his shoulder with a healing salve. "Hey! Easy there!"

"Yeah, yeah." Isaac grumbled as he cast Cure on a tiny scratch at Ivan's side. "There. All done."

Ivan got to his feet as he massaged one of his arms. "I'm going to bed. Don't bother to wake me up tomorrow, I'll sleep in." Saying so, he started up the stairs, wincing in pain each time he bent his leg.

Garet blinked. "Uh, Ivan… it's three in the afternoon."

"The sooner I get to sleep, the sooner it'll be tomorrow." Came the reply as the door on the upstairs landing slammed shut. Then…

_CRASH!_

The sounds of something crashing caught both Isaac and Garet's attention. Sprinting up the stairs, they found Ivan currently tangled in he collapsed remnants of his bed. After helping to dig him out, Ivan muttered a word unsuitable for print.

"Now, now." Garet admonished. "None of that language in this village." Pausing to consider the options, he finally sighed. "Kay's out to camp for the month. You can stay in her room for the time being, I guess."

Ivan grumbled under his breath as he shoveled a few clothes into a back pack, before stalking out of the house after Garet.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix stood by the riverside, glancing inconspicuously at the doorway of the Ivan's house. Sure enough, the young Jupiter Adept stepped out after Garet, with a face that would have curdled milk. Chuckling slightly, Felix grinned down at the retreating figure of Ivan.

"Ah, Ivan, Ivan, Ivan. That's what you get for trying to steal **MY** Sheba." Whistling to himself, he strolled off merrily towards the plaza, leaving a slightly rusty saw lying in the mud behind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"And this'll be your room." Garet indicated with a sweep of his hand.

"Thrillsville." Ivan deadpanned as he stared around the room. Clad almost completely in red wallpaper, there were lamps, cushions, and rugs everywhere. Not exactly his dream bedroom. Sighing, he flopped down onto the pink bed, staring dejectedly at the ceiling.

Garet coughed slightly. "I'll, uh be leaving now."

Ivan gave absolutely no response whatsoever.

Shrugging, Garet eased the door shut. 

With another deep sigh, Ivan raised a hand and cast sleep on himself, feeling his mind sink into blessed oblivion.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

End Sunday

Well, then. Review, and maybe I won't send Dullahan after you.


	2. Monday

Guys? Have you noticed something weird with FF.Net? Specifically, I can't put triple full stops on the site. It merely turns to a single full stop. Weird, huh?

I don't own this. Unless I happen to be the unknown heir of the vast Nintendo empire, and no one's bothered to tell me yet. Nah.

Reviewer Responses:

NintendoGamer: Scuffles? Well, depends on what you mean by _scuffles_...

Warpstarmaster122: I make no promises. ^_^ Seems you have enough problems with Dullahan already. I'll leave you alone. For now. MweheheheheheheAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahem. Sorry.

Magical Mage: Of course! It's pretty obvious some people just get no lovin'. Oh, well. Sucks to be them. And more djinn? I'll think about it.

8BTFreek: Hey, you deserve some "reward" for reviewing my works so often. Here's chapter two!

xT-Zealot: Yep, updating. (I like the word "yep" for some reason.)

JokersSpecter: My works are unworthy to be compared to the sheer brilliance that is THE BEST GOLDEN SUN FIC EVER! But thanks for the compliment!

Jupiter Sprite: Eh, you might want to cover your eyes when you read the later chapters, then. And concerning Felix... well, just wait and see!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Monday

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, Sheba was unwilling to commit to a boyfriend?" Isaac mused thoughtfully as he paced around the room. Mia, sitting in a chair near the back, nodded.

"Yep. She claims that it takes up too much spare time."

"And what else did you find after that?"

"Well, after that, we were about to continue our conversation when the Djinn managed to create a tri-elemental ball of psynergy, and send it heading to Mt. Aleph. That also explains the crater you saw on it when you woke up this morning." Jenna interjected.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "I wonder..." Snapping his fingers, he looked around the room, disgusted. "Where's Ivan?"

"Still sleeping. Of course." Jenna said as she leaned back in her chair. "For someone who's a ball of pure nuclear energy when he's up and moving, it sure takes him a long time to get started."

"So? Why can't you go wake him up?" Isaac questioned. 

"I've already sent Garet to do just that." She replied with a smile.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Come **ON**, Ivan!" Garet growled. "It is two in the afternoon! Get up!"

"Mmmphtstx." Came the reply from under the pillow, where Ivan had chosen to bury his head after hearing Garet bellow for the first time.

Resisting the urge to punch something, Garet glanced around the (pink) bedroom, trying to find any suitable way of prying Ivan out of bed. The crowbar had been pretty effective, but after ten minutes or so, it had snapped. The toothpicks? Nah. The various rugs scattered around the room? Nope. Then wha-

The lightbulb turned on in Garet's head, and scurrying over to the door, he rapped on it twice.

"Why, hello!" Garet said in a much more pleasant tone than hethought he could muster, given his current condition. "Come on in! Oh, hi, Sheba! What are you doing here dressed in nothing but your underwear?"

"WHAT?! LEMME SEE! LEMME SEE!" Garet smirked to himself as a tangled bundle rolled out of the bed, with the yellow top bumping it's head rather hard against the side-table in the process. Before Ivan could extricate himself from the tangled lump, Garet had shot off a fireball that incinerated the bedsheets. And the bed, for that matter.

"Ow..." Ivan muttered as he rubbed his sore head. And before he could get any further, Garet had marched over, seized him by the hair, and dragged him to his feet.

"Alright, no more sleeping. Go. Eat. Brea- Lunch. Now." Not bothering to listen to Ivan's complaints, Garet shoved him out the door in one swift motion. 

Staggering out onto the walkway, Ivan reflected to himself on just how much his life sucked. But hey, it's a given fact that life sucks. The only thing you can do about it is to roll with the punches.

Kinda like how Ivan just missed his footing and is currently rolling down the stairs.

Um, excuse me a minute, would ya?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The river of Vale flowed through the entire town. Now, given that the town was by no means "level", the river poured off into waterfalls at several levels. And behind the largest waterfall, the one leading directly to the plaza, there was a secret recess behind it. A cove, if you will. It was completely cut off from the outside world, and thus, it was a good place for solitude. And as we know, people scheming always need solitude. Well, unless said schemer is a criminal mastermind bent on world domination. Criminal masterminds always have a deep, inborn need to announce their plans to the world at large, generally through a news broadcast.

Then, it is left to the hero-of-the-moment to tell the diabolical fiend that his scheme would never work. And then it would be the criminal mastermind's turn to say that it already had.

But I digress.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix was, by no means, a criminal mastermind. But that wasn't from any lack of brains whatsoever. Rather, it sprung from the fact that he didn't have an army of loyal but technically worthless henchmen, a nigh-invincible but dumb-as-bricks bodyguard, an idiotic fawning toady, and a weird accent. Always the accent.

But then, he wasn't too concerned with actually ruling the world. His mind was more preoccupied with how to get Sheba to fall for him. And currently, he was banking quite a lot on his master scheme.

"First," He spoke to the empty room behind the waterfall. "I'll have to get Ivan out of the picture." Doodling slightly on his notepad, he grinned. "And I know just how to do it."

Slipping the notepad into his pocket, he left the waterfall, chuckling to himself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ivan whistled to himself as he drummed his fingers against the wooden desk of the shop, trying to keep his temper in check. After eating more of Garet's horrendous "cooking" (leftovers from yesterday), he had been promptly sent to this tiny store on the outskirts of the town to grab some aspirin for Garet's mom.

"I dunno why she needs me to come all the way here." Ivan snorted as he glanced around the rundown shop. "There's a perfectly good medicine shop in the plaza."

Just then, the old man who ran the establishment appeared at the counter. "Ah, a customer!" He beamed. "And what'll it be, lad?"

Not bothering to speak, Ivan handed the list of ingredients to the man, letting his mind wander. Okay, so the "perfume" hadn't been too successful. However, Picard had told Ivan that he had a new scheme that could not possibly fail.

"I shudder to think of the outcome." Ivan said to no one in particular. 

Just then, the shopkeeper reappeared, carrying a box. "Here you go, laddie."

Nodding his thanks, Ivan tossed a bag of gold coins to the man, and exited the shop.

And was promptly clubbed over the head from behind.

Ooh, that's gotta hurt.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay, so, tell me, Picard." Isaac questioned. "Exactly what does this plan of yours involve?"

Picard glanced around, pausing to glare suspiciously at the lamp on the table, before slipping a rolled-up piece of parchment out from his robes. Relieving Picard of the item, Isaac slowly unfurled it, raising an eyebrow as he did so.

"So?" Picard asked. "Is it to your liking?"

"Well, uh," Isaac began. "It's _very_ well detailed... but, um, where would you find these many ice-cream sticks, Picard?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You're still mad."

"Shut up."

"C'mon! It was an accident!"

"An _accident!?_ You call blowing up part of Mt. Aleph an accident? Excuse me, Breath, but I think that collecting the psynergy of _three_ different elements, and uniting the djinn to get enough energy to fire a blast of psynergy strong enough to blow a crater in a mountain is a lot more than a simple accident, Breath. Do you have _any_ idea how much they want me to pay in reparations?"

Breath sighed and hopped onto Sheba's head. "Alright, alright, mistress. We'll help you repair the damage. Don't get too flustered over this."

"Thanks for your support, Breath, but-"

"Oh, and maybe I can get the other djinn to help too!"

"Um-"

"Yes! It's decided! I'll get all the other djinn from everyone else to chip in! We'll restore the mountain in no time!"

"But-"

"Oh, look at the time! Better get started!"

"I- hey, wait! Come back!"

With a sigh, Sheba sank onto her bed, arms crossed. Breath had already flown out of the window, presumably to find the other djinn.

"I shudder to think about what havoc they're going to wreck." Sheba murmured to herself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ivan woke up to a rushing sound, the dampness of the ground around him, and Felix staring down on him. Fortunately, his head didn't hurt too much. Unfortunately, from the way Felix was looking at him, that was subject to change pretty soon.

"W-where am I?" That was pretty much the first thing that popped to his mind. Felix didn't bother to answer.

"You." He said, pointing. "You are all that stands in my way."

"What are you talking about?"

Felix didn't even appear to have heard Ivan. "I sacrificed so much! I cannot fail now, do you hear me?!"

"Ooookay... Felix, you are starting to scare me here."

"You don't understand, do you?" Felix practically screamed at Ivan. "That's why you are not worthy! That is why you cannot have here!"

Ivan took the time while Felix was ranting to sit up. Then he blinked. He was apparently somewhere behind Vale's waterfall. In a tiny cave somewhere. What made this cave special, however, was the fact that it was completely filled from ceiling to floor with pictures of-

"Sheba?"

That seemed to get Felix's attention. "Yes, Sheba!" He snapped. "All this time everyone was so concerned about _you_! They think that you and Sheba should go together! But did they think about me?! Did they think about my unrequited love for her? No, they didn't!"

Ivan stared around the room. There were pictures of Sheba doing almost every conceivable thing. (Not _that_. Perverts) Sheba eating, Sheba drinking, Sheba talking, laughing, ... _sleeping?!_

"Um... Felix..." He began, trying his best not to antagonize the Venus Adept. "There is a fine line between love and obsession." He raised an eyebrow as he caught sight of a picture of Sheba doing nothing at all in particular. "And, uh, you crossed that line about five miles back."

Suddenly, he felt himself being grabbed and slammed back into the wall. "You don't understand, do you?" Felix hissed. "I have suffered in silence ever since we first met! She never understood how I felt for her! She never reciprocated! And now, you! You! You dared to try to win her heart! When I am the only one deserving of her love!"

Ivan gently tried to push Felix away. "Okay, then. Tell me, what exactly have you dragged me here for?"

"A duel. To the death."

"_What_?!"

"You heard me. The only way we can settle our respective differences is to fight it out."

"Um, wouldn't a slightly less... violent method be better? You know, like cards or something?"

"There! There! You see now? The true heart of the matter! You are not willing to defend your love for her!" Backing up several steps, Felix continued, raving wildly. "And you consider yourself worthy of Sheba, of perfection?! I laugh at the notion!"

Ivan stared at Felix a few minutes, before sighing. "Fine, fine. You'll get your stupid duel."

"Ha!" Felix laughed. "Even if we _do_ fight, you cannot hope to win! I am far superior, both in strength, and psynergy! Need I remind you, dear Ivan, that Jupiter Adepts are weak to the powers of Venus? I shall destroy you with my psynergy powers, and at last Sheba shall be mi-"

"Gale."

A huge blast of wind filled the cavern, effectively knocking Felix off balance. Even as he fell, however, the sheer force of the wind pushed him further, and further, until he disappeared completely past the silvery sheet of water.

Walking over the waterfall, Ivan stuck his head out, watching Felix sputtering and gasping for breath.

" So, uh, are you ready to reopen negotiations?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"A _what?!_" Isaac asked. He had heard just fine. It was just that his mind did not allow him to get around the basic idea of just what the two Adepts standing in front of him were currently proposing.

"A drinking contest." Ivan sounded like a tired parent after an entire day of walking around with his kid in a theme park. "Whoever wins is the only one that can court Sheba."

"Ivan, you're underage."

He rolled his eyes. "So were you when you got drunk enough to set fire to Mia's hair."

"Don't change the subject!"

"I'm not sure I _am_. Anyway, we've agreed to a drinking contest, and we need someone to go buy the beer from the inn. We're holding it in Felix's house."

Isaac sighed. "There's no way I can talk you out of this, is there?"

"Not unless you can convince Mr. Macho here," Ivan jerked his thumb at Felix. "To give up Sheba without a fight."

"No way in hell." Felix said calmly.

"Drinking contest it is." Without a word, Felix turned and strode from the room.

Isaac turned to Ivan, who was busy fidgeting. "You _do_ realize that with your size, it's a ten-to-one on you being able to hold your liquor?"

Ivan sighed. "I know. But I have to try."

"For Sheba?" Isaac said with a smirk.

"For Sheba."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay." Garet began. "You two, stop glaring at each other and listen to me. The rules for this match is as follows: The crates of beer, wine, and whatever alcohol we could find are all stacked up in that corner. You two are to drink the beer using these identical mugs from the kitchen. No holds barred, unless it involves hurting someone, in which case you lose. Whoever pukes first, is the loser. Whoever holds his drink in the longest while still consuming alcohol is the winner, and is the only one allowed to court Sheba. Everyone got that?"

"Yep." Ivan said, while at the same time he did his best to ignore Felix staring at him.

"Then take your positions, everyone. Me and Isaac will be the judges, Picard is on alcohol-refill duty, and the girls wanted absolutely nothing to do with this."

Ivan slid onto the chair, looking at his wooden mug in front of him, currently being filled with beer. Sighing, he lifted it to his lips, raised it in a gesture of sportsmanship to Felix (who didn't bother to reply), and began to drink.

Garet settled down next to Isaac, staring at the two adepts quaffing the alcohol down as fast as they could. "A drunk Jupiter Adept?" He mused. "This should be interesting."

Isaac merely grunted in reply.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Alright, Breath. You've called us here, and we've come." Gust, spokesman for the rest of the Djinn, said. "So, for what reason have you summoned us to this meeting?"

Breath nodded. "Okay, before we start, I want to ask you: Are your masters and mistresses aware you are here?'

Gust shrugged. "Ivan is. I never lie to him. However, most of the others are probably too busy with the drinking contest to realize we're gone."

"Drinking contest?'

"Never mind. So, what's the reason?"

Breath cleared her throat and hopped over to the wall, in which she had scratched out several rough drawings on it. "If all of you will focus on this plan here-"

"WOOHOO! PLANS? I LOVE PLANS! PLANSPLANSPLANSPLANSPLANSPLA-"

"Fever, shut up. As I was saying, the plans here show a detailed graph, a timetable, several drawings, and finally, a success meter per day."

At this point, Blitz coughed. "Yes, sister. This is all very fun. But from what you said earlier this afternoon, we're supposed to help rebuild the part of Mt. Aleph we blasted away-"

"You WHAT?!"

"Eh, it was only a little scratch."

"More like a crater." Cannon muttered under his breath. "A rather large crater."

"Shuddap. Anyway, we are now here to discuss how to repair it. But what are the plans going to do?"

Breath blinked. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Now, if you'll turn your attention to this figure, you'll see the majority of damage is concentrated in the Southern side..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You look a little green around the gills, midget."

"No more than you, prissy boy." 

"You're younger than me, and this is the first time you've ever consumed so much alcohol in such a short time. Face it, Ivan, you can't win."

"Yeah? I _will_ win! You just *hic* wait!"

Garet raised an eyebrow. "Phase one, the drunkenness emerges."

Isaac noted something down in his notebook. "I think they're about even, so far."

"Yeah, but they've just started. Wonder how they'll do about three hours later?"

"You honestly think they can last that long?" Isaac said disbelievingly.

Garet shrugged. "Who knows?" Out of the corner of his eye, he noted that Felix and Ivan were once again trading insults.

"You're a prissy *hic* blondy! You *hic* shuck!"

"Yeah? Well, you *hic* have the smarts of a *hic* walrus!"

"Yeah? Well... you, uh, you smell bad! So there! *hic*"

Garet sighed. This was going to be looonngg night...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Alright, so Mud, Steam, Forge, and Whorl, you're on lookout duty that day. You can't let any humans near the construction work during the construction period. Tonic, Petra, Shine, and Gasp, you're in charge of the rigging. Everyone else, you know your duties, so step to it!" Breath rapped out. All the djinn snapped to attention, and hopped, waddled, flew, or basically moved towards focusing on their individual tasks. Except Gust. He had already hopped beside Breath, and was now looking at her with disbelief.

"So _that's_ the real reason you called us here? For this?"

Breath laughed. "Yep! And even actually blowing up part of Mt. Aleph was all for the master plan."

"You are a genius."

"Tell me something I don't know."

Gust laughed. "Well then, best of luck." Turning, he let the tip of his head crest touch against Breath's, the Jupiter Djinni's equivalent of a high-five.

_I wonder how Ivan's doing?_ Gust thought.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Are you my *hic* daddy? Whee..."

"Hey! No csheating! There'sh... not shupposhed to be three of you drinkin'!" 

Garet sighed as he stared at the too goofballs still slamming down alcohol. "Phase two. This is the part where our wives usually make us break it up, right?"

Isaac nodded slightly. "Uh-huh. And without the barrier, I wonder just how further those two can go."

Garet shrugged and began doodling in his notebook. Just then, there was a flash of psynergetic light, and Picard appeared in the room, carrying two more crates of alcohol.

"This was the last batch the inn possessed." He said wearily. "The innkeeper said he was amazed that we needed so much beer for a simple party."

Garet shrugged. "Well, then the Vault inn. From the looks of things, this battle isn't ending any time soon."

Picard turned to observe the two Adepts still drinking. "Quite frankly, I am baffled as to how neither of these two have thrown up yet."

Isaac shrugged. "What can you say? They seem pretty serious abou- Ivan? What are you doing?"

Garet snapped out of his doodling immediately. "Ivan? Hey, stop climbing on the table, Ivan. Hey, wait, what are you doing? No, Ivan, do NOT take those off! Ivan, **DON'T**!"

"AHHHHHH! My eyes!" Isaac howled. "My virgin eyes! Gahhhhh!!!"

Picard settled down in a chair next to Isaac. "I fear I have suffered irreparable damage to my mental systems."

"Me too, Picard. Me too..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the little *cough* incident, it was decided by the judges that since it wasn't against the rules, Ivan wouldn't be ruled out. But neither of them could do so again. Ivan was then forced to drink an extra penalty cup while Picard left to get more beer from Vault.

Meanwhile, with the djinn...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Yes, Salt. That certainly is a brilliant scale model. However, it is upside down." With a sigh, Breath tossed the paper back. 

Salt stuck her tongue out at Breath. "Hey, is it _my_ fault you stuck me with Gel and Fever? Those two are completely insane!"

"Hey! Wanna go do something stupid?"

"Yeah! Let's go eat icecream!"

"Dude! That is so totally scrapping! Woohoo!"

Salt rolled her eyes. "I rest my case. Under the circumstances, I did the best I could."

Before Breath could reply, an explosion was heard. Along with the sounds of two djinn arguing.

"Scorch! Don't weld it _now!_"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know you hadn't cleared out the explosives yet, Mr. Hail?"

"Well, you might have read the sign that said "Danger, Explosives", might you not?"

"Details, details..." Scorch muttered as he hopped onto a pile of lumber being hoisted up.

Breath shook her head as she stared at the chaos around her. They would need lots of luck to get it completed...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I love you! Hug *hic* me!"

"Shtay away from *hic* me, you shicko freak."

"Daddy doesn't love *hic* me anymore! Waaaahhhh!"

"Okay, I am officially scared now." Garet muttered to himself as he crossed his arms.

"I was officially scared when Felix managed to recite "Twelfth Night" in perfect English one hour ago, Garet." Isaac responded.

"At this point, I'm not even sure what phase they're on anymore."

Just then, Picard warped in, staggering under the weight of several more crates of beer. 

"This... is all the... Vault inn has left." He managed to groan out, before dumping them on the floor.

Isaac scratched his head. "This is not good. At the rate we're going, those two are going to clean out all of Angara's alcohol before the night is through.

"What then, fearless leader?" Garet asked sardonically. Isaac bit his lip. Maybe...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two hours later…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I am simply overwhelmed by the sheer amount of alcohol they have managed to consume." Picard mumbled to himself, half in shock. Beside him, Isaac grimaced as he stared at the vast number of empty crates in front of him. "I think we're going to need Garet or Jenna to burn all these things later."

With a sigh, Isaac turned back to watching the two adepts still chugging back beers. 

Wait… what was Felix doing?

With a lurch, he staggered backwards, eyes wide. Isaac and Picard nimbly skipped out of the way, as Felix bent over the empty crates and-

Well, figure it out yourself. I really don't want to describe what happened.

"Well," Garet laughed. "I think we have a winner!" He slapped Ivan on the back. The young Jupiter Adept slowly staggered to his feet, before swaying. Garet managed to catch him as he fell.

"Huh, he's a lot lighter than I thought." Garet said as he lifted the unconscious body up. "And in any case, I'm surprised he hasn't thrown up-"

"Urp!" _Splootch!_

"Yet." Garet finished lamely as he stares at the stinking mess all over his tunic. Sighing, he motioned for Isaac to take Ivan, and grabbed some tissues.

"Well, I suppose the outcome of this match is rather clear." Picard said in a perky voice.

"Indeed." Isaac said as he tried to nudge the door open with one hand. "Ivan wins, and Felix can't try to win Sheba's heart, under his own agreements."

"Well then, I believe we should be getting to bed." Garet let out a stifled yawn. "And tomorrow, we can do whatever it is we want to do."

"G'night, all." Isaac said sleepily as he exited Felix's house, an unconscious Ivan still in tow.

Picard sighed to himself as he watched a drunken Felix still staggering around the house. 

Gripping the Venus Adept's shoulder, he hauled him up the stairs, before finally shoving him into his room.

Shaking his head, he let himself out of the house.

""One thing." He whispered to himself as he walked down the hill to his own residence. "You never have to worry about boredom in this place. Never ever."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

End Monday

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So, how'd you like it? I'm worried I made Felix a bit too extreme in the last chapter, but, oh well!

Read and review, okay? Thanks!


	3. Tuesday

Well, here we are. Chapter 3 of my romance/humor ficlet hybrid. Go me.

I don't own this.

Special Message to 8BTFreek: Hi! How's the oneshot coming along? 

* * *

Tuesday

* * *

Pain. That was the explosion he had woken up to. A thousand Dullahans inside his head, all hammering to get out. With a groan, he managed to sit up enough to note that Isaac was sitting on a chair with head slumped over, sunlight streaming in over his head.

Just then, Isaac woke up. Seeing Ivan, a sleepy grin spread over his face. "Oh, you're up."

"What... happened?" Ivan managed to groan out. Man, it even hurt to talk.

Isaac's grin grew wider. "You won."

It took a couple of seconds for Ivan to receive that information. A couple more for him to process and understand it. A couple more for the implications to sink in. "Yes." He finally managed to gasp out, as he let his head fall back and hit the pillow. That was a mistake. The instant his head touched the feathery material, another explosion resounded throughout his brain. It was all he could do not to curl into a ball and start weeping.

After a few more seconds, Ivan cracked open one eye. "What happened yesterday? It all seems so… hazy."

Isaac leaned back in his chair, thinking. "Where to start? Okay, first, you drank beer until you cleaned out the Vale inn's supply of beer. Around that point, you climbed on the table and removed your clothes." Isaac shuddered slightly. "I don't really want to go into that. Anyway, after we removed the… problem, you continued drinking, only this time Picard had to carry in beer from the Vault inn, renowned world wide for their alcoholic concentration."

"Lemma guess… we passed out from that one."

"No, you polished off their entire stock. Speaking of which..." Isaac leaned over and grabbed a newspaper from the ground. Lifting it, he displayed the headline to Ivan.

_Riots as Beer Shortage Hits Vault!_

Ivan closed his eyes with a sigh. "Then?"

Isaac rolled his eyes, although of course Ivan didn't see it. "Well, after that, I decided to break out a batch of my father's special _Sake_. It's really aged, and guaranteed to lay a sailor flat in two draughts."

"And?"

"You two managed five crates of bottles each before Felix upped and hurled."

"It shows." Ivan groaned. "How many times did I throw up?"

Isaac frowned, and mentally ticked off on his fingers. "Lessee… I think it was eleven times. Twelve if you count the one where it threw up a second time less than a second after the third time. You have no idea how hard it was to clean up all that gunk from my bed. Multiple times."

Ivan's eyes opened, partly in shock. "You stayed up the whole night looking after me?"

Isaac shrugged uncomfortably. "Hey, what are friends for?"

"Cleaning up barf?"

"One aspect."

"Yeah, yeah." Ivan settled down again, trying to will away the pain of his throbbing head. Presently, he opened one eye again. "How's Felix taking the loss?"

Isaac coughed. "Er, well, you see... it's a funny story..."

* * *

"Felix!" Jenna called plaintively. "You're going to have to come out of there sooner or later!"

"Go away." Came the muffled reply.

Jenna rolled her eyes. Her brother could be a total prick at times. "And then what? Are you going to just lie there and mourn the fact that you can't have Sheba all to your lonesome the rest of your life?"

"..."

Jenna sighed. "I take it your silence means you consent to coming out? So what if you can't court Sheba?"

"You don't get it, do you?!" Felix exploded from inside. "I lost in a _drinking_ contest to _Ivan_! The scrawny wimp of a midget that is technically underage for drinking, and has never let more than half a mug of alcohol pass his lips at any one stretch before last night! That was my _one_ chance to prevent any competition from ever hampering my progress and I blew it! To _Ivan!_ Argghhh!" A loud _thump!_ was heard from the interior.

Jenna plastered a slight smile on her face. "Well, I guess that tells you something about the power of love, huh?"

"..."

Jenna sighed a second time. "Come out, or I'm _burning_ the door down."

There was a derisive snort from behind the door. "Excuse me, I'm living in a house with two Mars Adepts. I think I might have taken some precautions. The door is completely fireproof. Now, leave me alone."

Jenna sighed in frustration a second time before turning around and leaving the house entirely. Why waste her time with unresponsive jerks? Suddenly stopping short, her mouth slowly fell open as an idea entered her head.

Then, with a grin, she turned and ran off to the plaza.

* * *

"Just lie back a minute, Ivan." Mia said softly as she kneeled down by Ivan's side. "Your head'll be alright in no time." Raising a hand, she cast Ply, smile widening as she watched the fretful boy stop twisting and turning in the bed and slowly sink into a deep sleep.

"He'll be fine." She laughed as she stood back up. Behind her, Isaac rubbed his head, a slightly rueful smile on his face. "How come you never do for me that after I'm out on a drinking binge?"

Mia cocked an eyebrow. "Because that was your own choice. Poor lil' Ivan here _had_ to do it or, he didn't get the girl. I believe I'm rather justified in curing him and not you."

Isaac merely rolled his eyes before heading down the stairs. "At the rate Ivan is sleeping, we won't be able to get any more plans ready before Valentine's day!"

Mia shook her head as she followed her husband down the stairs. "I think you people are going about it the wrong way, anyhow. Maybe Ivan should be honest with her and just... open his heart."

"No, bad idea." Isaac said. "The last time that happened, a total catastrophe occurred."

"Really?" Mia questioned. "What catastrophe?"

"I ended up with you." Isaac laughed, and promptly received a whack on the head as a reward.

* * *

"Ohhhh, Felix..." Jenna sang out as she stood, once again, outside his door. "Are you coming out, or not?"

There was no response from the locked room.

Jenna sighed. She had expected this. And she most definitely not returned unprepared. Raising her hand, she beckoned to the other figure who had stood there, silent and impassive.

"Remind me why I agreed to this?" Picard asked with good humor as he stood in front of Felix's door.

"Because you owe me." Jenna replied sweetly. Too sweetly. "Or... would you prefer the world knew of your exact age?"

"That'll teach me not to leave my personal artifacts like diaries lying around where anybody can procure them" Picard muttered under his breath. Raising an arm, he focused his Mercury powers on the door. "Frost!" He called out, blasting the door with a wave of cold energy. This caused the wooden door to freeze over, making the solid and tough door extremely brittle. And ripe for the smashing from a certain irate Mars Adept's staff.

In case you were wondering (unlikely), she was more than willing to oblige.

_Thwack!_

Jenna waved aside the remains of the splintered door, and stepped through. 'Felix?" She called out. No one answered.

"Where on Weyard could he-" Picard's sentence was cut short as he stared at the knotted bedsheets hanging out the window. Rushing over, he and Jenna peered out the window.

"Well, I think it is rather apparent that Felix has decided to leave his room through another means than the door." Picard said.

"Yeah, but why does the bedsheets only reach halfway down?" Jenna questioned.

* * *

Felix rubbed his sore head as he continued the journey. Why didn't he ever get more bedsheets? Unfortunately for him, he had realized his error only about halfway down, and in his struggle to climb back up, he had slipped, and... you know the rest.

Good thing he had managed to Cure himself of the alcohol-induced headache . He didn't even want to know what he would be like if he had to add his current bump to the splitting agony of consuming over five dozen crates of alcohol. He was surprised his lungs still functioned. Oh, well. None of that really mattered. Especially now that he had reached his destination. Striding over, he rapped on the door.

A few seconds later, it creaked open, and the smiling face of Weyard's greatest Alchemy scholar appeared behind it. "Ah, Felix! How can I help you?" Kraden asked. "You know, recently, I've been studying the flare patterns on the Golden Sun, and I think-"

"Erm, that seems very, uh, interesting!" Felix blurted out. "But, um, I'm not really here for that. What I came to ask was, well, can I use your chemistry sets for a while?"

Kraden seemed surprised for a second. "Why, but of course!" Moving aside, he gestured to the complicated looking apparatus spread out over the tables in the room. Nodding his thanks, Felix walked over to one of the tables, and immediately began mixing the ingredients he needed. Travelling around the world with a sage had it's benefits, after all.

"You know, the stuff you're mixing reminds me of the day you nearly got killed by that Squirrelfang. You were just walking along, and then..."

Then again, Felix considered, it had it's downsides too.

* * *

"Hey, Breath!" Sleet called as he nimbly dodged several rolling girders. "We have a problem."

Breath groaned. "What is it?"

Sleet shook his head. "We've been doing measurements, and the crater is just too small for our requirements."

"Really? A huge orb of tri-elemental power wasn't enough to blast a suitable sized crater into Mt. Aleph?"

"I think you're forgetting, Ms. Breath, that Mt. Aleph was made as a guarding room for the elemental stars. It's only natural that it would be tougher than normal rock."

"Well, I'm not doing that again." Breath grumbled. "After the first time I did that, I could barely stand for an hour."

"What then?" Sleet questioned. "If the crater isn't made larger, we might as well quit, because we won't be able to fit it inside there."

"..." Breath cocked an eyebrow.

* * *

"Oh, you're up early!" Garet laughed as he spied Ivan stumbling into Isaac's kitchen.

"Shut. Up." Ivan snarled. Barely managing to reach the chair, he somehow managed to slump onto it, looking like he was about to fall asleep any second. Not that anyone there could fault him. Ply wasn't really made to deal with this kind of afflictions.

"Well, shall we get down to business?" Isaac asked, shooting a slightly worried look at Ivan. The blonde Jupiter adept merely muttered something under his breath before turning to face Isaac. "Well, Garet has a plan that he thinks will work."

"Not like your perfume, I hope?" Mia smirked. She had gotten the rather amusing report from Picard earlier this morning. Isaac settled for shooting her a _look_, and motioned for Garet to stand, which he did.

" Okay, based on what we know, Sheba follows a rather rigid schedule everyday. On Tuesday's, or, in other words, today, she'll be going grocery shopping. According to our observations, she'll finish in about an hour's time, and head back home. Which is just at the foothills of Mt. Aleph. A rather tiring climb. I should know. Anyways, you are to intercept her at this point-" Garet lifted up a crudely drawn map and pointed to a certain area near the market marked with an 'X'. "And help her carry her stuff back home. During that period of time, you are to confess your love to her, before she reaches her home. Is that understood?"

Ivan nodded wearily, and the three other people in the room stood. "Well then, shall we be off?" Garet asked gamely. "We've got some stuff to set up anyway..."

* * *

The Mars Djinn gathered around the entire perimeter of the huge crater. All of them were silent. None made jokes, cracked dumb remarks, or anything. They knew what was at stake here. Behind them, Breath cast a trained eye over the proceedings.

"Alright!" She snapped. "Operation Meltdown, begin!"

Instantly, a storm of Fire-based psynergies raged through the air, searing into the ground outside the crater, melting away the rock and gravel... and torching a certain Venus djinni that had happened to be taking a nap within the crater.

With a scream, Echo catapulted out of the crater, his tail sporting a trailing plume of smoke. Venus djinni were embodiments of the soil and ground, and were thus unable to take flight, but many djinn were prepared to swear that Echo had succeeded that day.

Aside from motioning to Sleet to set Echo out, Breath paid no attention to the Venus Djinni whatsoever, signaling the operation to continue. Once more, Mars psynergy raged through the crater, with the occasional explosions and blasts thrown in for good measure. After around fifteen minutes of fires, the Mercury djinn stepped in to douse the fires, putting them out, and cooling the now reasonably wider crater.

Breath would have grinned if she could. "Alright, lets continue!"

Just then, Gust flew up. "Hate to be a party pooper, but we're missing two Mars djinn."

"What?!" Turning, Breath did a quick head count. Yes, they only had sixteen Mars djinn… and they were missing Fury and Cannon.

"Oh. No." Breath whispered. Fury was the biggest pyromaniac in the entire djinn crew, and Cannon was the youngest out of all the djinn. If the two of them were hooked up... she didn't even want to think about it.

"Everyone!" She yelled. "All work stops! First priority is to find Cannon and Fury! Now!"

* * *

"Where we goin'?" Cannon asked innocently as he followed meekly behind Fury. The older Mars djinni merely shook his head before looking around. 

"We are _going_ to avoid that slave driver known as Breath giving us more work. And deep within the ruins of Mt. Aleph seems a good enough place." He replied.

"Yes, but shouldn't we help?"

"Whatever for?" Fury growled irritably. It was a well known fact that Fury and Breath had never got along, and they would take any chance to make the other look bad. Cannon, however, still didn't quite get it.

"Well, after all, we're trying to-" Just then, the both of them rounded a corner, and Cannon never managed to finish his sentence. For sitting in front of them, was the biggest pile ever of-

"Explosives." Fury managed to whisper, with his mouth dry.

Cannon glanced around at the vast number of dynamite sticks, gunpowder barrels, and whatnot filling the room. "Big boom-boom?" He asked hopefully.

Fury nodded, still slightly in shock. "Big, _big_ boom-boom."

* * *

Ivan whistled to himself as he leaned against a pillar, staring out at the marketplace. According to Garet's observations, Sheba would be finished soon. Eyes staring at the hazy image in front of him, he nearly missed a golden beam of light shooting of from the earth, courtesy of Isaac's Gaia spell. And the signal for Ivan to start walking.

Strolling quickly towards the prearranged meeting point, Ivan broke into a smile when he saw Sheba walking up the path, trying to carry several bags bulging with groceries. And from the looks of things, she wasn't too successful at all. Hurrying over, he smiled to Sheba. "Need a hand with that?"

Sheba's eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled. "Thanks, that would be great." Lifting an arm, she managed to wiggle off a few bags, which Ivan grabbed. "So, where to?" He asked with a tiny grin.

"Up the hill." Sheba replied, and the two of them began walking up, step by step.

* * *

Felix slowly stirred in the mixture with a glass rod, smirking with satisfaction. Perfect. It was finished. Now, all he needed was to wait until tonight...

"Hey, Felix! So, what did you make?" Kraden asked in a friendly tone as he stepped up behind the Venus adept. "From the looks of things, it appears to be a carbon-based simple molecular liquid substance, but of course, looks are deceiving! Why don't you let me take a look at that?"

"Uh, no." Felix said hastily. With a few discreet movements, he tried to slip the vial of liquid out of Kraden's grasp. No dice. Kraden had reached forward, surprisingly nimble for such an old man, and grabbed ahold of the bottle.

"Oh, come on! It won't be long! I just want to analyze it's atomic structure!"

"No!" Felix shot back as he tried to wrest the bottle away. Of course, he was a lot younger and stronger than the far older man, and succeeded in that task. Unfortunately, the law of inertia was not to be denied. The sudden release of opposition caused Felix to stumble back, knocking over several glass jars, which tipped and spilled their contents into a huge puddle on the floor.

A puddle that was starting to bubble and hiss.

_Uh oh_. Felix thought.

* * *

"Hey, remember the time when Felix almost got killed by that Squirrelfang?" Sheba laughed and nodded. "He was so embarrassed he didn't speak to us for a week!"

Ivan shifted the weight of the bags, silently casting Impact on himself to make the job easier. "Remember when we first met?"

"You mean in Tolbi?" Sheba asked, a slight frown appearing on her face. Ivan noticed this almost immediately. _Ah, shit._

"Uh, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." Ivan hastily said. Sheba shook her head.

"No... it's all right. Anyway, that was what sparked off the entire chain reaction of me ending up helping save the world, right?" Sheba smiled.

"Uh-huh." Ivan grinned. "I was wondering what a pretty girl like you was doing cooped up in the palace during Colosso. I figured that you were the anti-social sort."

"When in reality I was held there against my will." Sheba said almost to herself as she recalled the events that had led up to that date. "But, hey, the company there was superb."

Ivan blushed slightly. " If you're talking about when I read to you before you went to sleep, thanks. But frankly, Isaac was pooped, Mia had crashed next to him, and Garet was trying to haggle off some food in the marketplace. You were the only person there I could have company with."

"Awww…" Sheba laughed. "Do you not like being alone?"

"No." Ivan said. "No, I don't." "_Now."_ He thought mentally. "Y'know, Sheba..."

"Mm?" She asked as she lifted her head.

Ivan cleared his throat nervously. It felt like it had sawdust inside it. "I... uh, I…"

**_KA-BOOM!!!_**

A tremendous explosion resounded throughout the village, distracting Sheba. "What was that?" Without bothering for an answer, she raced off for the source of the blast, leaving a defeated Ivan to slump his head and follow slowly after her.

* * *

Felix coughed, waving away the smoke from the totaled cottage. Glancing around, he noted a sprawled form on the floor. Waling over, he saw the unconscious but very much alive form of Kraden. Breathing a sigh of relief, he was about to leave through the front door when he spotted Sheba and Ivan close behind walking towards the cottage.

"Ah, shit." Felix muttered to himself. Turning, he pulled out the Cloak Ball, and leapt through one of the by-now numerous cracks in the walls, into the trees. Concentrating, he disappeared into the shade under the trees, and sneaked away into the forest.

* * *

"So, Kraden's cottage blew up?" Garet asked incredulously.

"Yes." Ivan growled. "And just as I was about to tell Sheba too! Now, will you get _off_ my case?" Yanking off his tunic, he grabbed a loose-fitting pair of pyjamas before retreating into Isaac's room and yanking the door shut.

Garet shrugged to himself and sighed. "Back to the drawing board then..."

* * *

Moonlight shone down on Vale, and all it's inhabitants were sound asleep.

Well, _almost_ all...

Slowly, Felix slid the window open, slipping into the room. Slowly, he crept over to the bed, where it's inhabitant-

Was sitting up? Quickly, Felix ducked behind a chair, holding his breath.

"Ugh." Ivan muttered under his breath. "What did Isaac stuff this pillow with? Rocks?" Yanking it open, he reached inside and drew out a handful of dried seeds.

"Bwuh?" Ivan said. "Must be a Venus thing." With a flick off his wrist, he tossed the pillow away, hitting Felix square in the face.

As Felix massaged his sore nose, Ivan sank back onto the bed, and in seconds was sound asleep.

Slowly, Felix crept out of the bed, sneaking closer to Ivan, and drawing a tiny bottle from his pocket…

* * *

Gust paced around the crater, looking over the sleepy village. Yup. Everything was normal.

Well, except for that weird figure sneaking out of Isaac's bedroom. Gust narrowed his eyes as he stared at the figure, as he slid the window close, preparing to slide down. Gust raised an eyebrow as that someone lost his footing and fell to the bushes below.

Shrugging, the Jupiter djinni hopped into a tiny alcove and went to sleep. He could worry about all that tomorrow…

* * *

* * *

Well, another chapter done! But, my exams are coming up, so you won't get any updates for about two weeks. Oh, well…

Oh, and I think I'm the only person so far who hasn't made Garet a complete dunce in a humor fic...

Ciao! Review!


	4. Wednesday

Hmph, well, I suppose I've kept you mortals waiting long enough. Chapter 4 is up.

I don't own this.

Bebbies

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wednesday

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Morning already?_ Ivan let out a long yawn. Falling out of bed, he managed to drag himself up. Ordinarily, he wouldn't get up this early, but Isaac had told him that there would be another attempt to win Sheba's heart today.

Frankly, Ivan though to himself as he tried to rub out the sleep gunk from his eyes, he was getting rather tired of the gang's hairbrained schemes. Not only did all of them sound ridiculous, most of their failures came at the expense of someone getting hurt. Namely, Ivan.

Grumbling to himself, he padded over to the bathroom and swung the door open. After pausing to stretch sleepily, he went over to the bathroom sink. Then he looked up into the mirror.

Ivan's scream echoed throughout all Angara.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ivan, calm down." Isaac tried to reassure Ivan, and to get the Jupiter Adept to sit still for a minute. He might as well have tried to take on Dullahan with a butter knife.

"Isaac," Ivan tried to force himself into some manner of form that did not resemble hysteria. He had about the same success rate as Isaac in calming himself down. "Calm down? Isaac, if you were me right now, would you feel very calm? Would you, Isaac, sit down, think this over calmly and finally laugh it off as one of those infinitely small things that happen all the time in a universe full of catastrophes, and hey, no big deal! Could happen to anyone, except it had to happen to me, and I hate this and my life sucks and I wish I hadn't woke up this morning, and I…" Finally breaking down completely, Ivan collapsed onto the kitchen floor in a blubbering heap, sobbing to himself.

Isaac shook his head, about to say something. Just then, Picards entered the room.

"Hey, everyone!" He said cheerfully. "I brought some-" Then he stopped short as he caught sight of Ivan on the floor. Then he blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes and looked again.

"Are my eyes on the correct optical wavelength?" He wondered aloud. "Is… is Ivan's hair _pink_?"

Ivan suddenly snapped. Leaping to his feet, he began to glow. "Yes!" He snapped. "My hair is bright pink! Can the world hear me?! My hair is pink! Yes, you saw it! Now, are you going to do anything about it, or just stand there looking dumb?! Because if it's the latter, I… I'll…" The glow around Ivan began to increase in brightness and intensity.

Isaac decided to hide under the table.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two old men sat side by side, staring at the waterfall.

"Sure is a beautiful waterfall." The first one ventured.

"A-yup." The second one readily agreed.

Suddenly, a house some way up the hill erupted in a raging ball of fire and lightning.

"Sure have been a lot of houses blowin' up lately."

"A-yup."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isaac crawled out from the smoking ruin that had been his kitchen table. Standing there, looking rather sheepish, was Ivan. Still with bright pink hair.

There was silence in the house, or what remained of it. Then Isaac cleared his throat.

"I, uh, didn't know you'd mastered Spark Plasma."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay, so," Garet sighed. "In addition to me having to house two more people, one because his bed collapsed, and the other because his house got flash-fried, we have to hold our meetings in my kitchen now."

"Yes, that seems about correct." Isaac said. "Just don't try cooking us anything."

Garet chucked a spoon in Isaac's general direction, and continued. "Anyway, Mia and Jenna have collaborated to create a new plan for Ivan."

Mia stood up, and walked over to the head of the table. Jenna followed beside her, carrying several rolls of parchment.

"Recently, Kraden has been studying Jupiter psynergy, and he has created a theory that Mind Read can be used a different way than previously thought."

"Meaning?" Isaac asked.

"Well, his research suggests that Mind Read can be reversed to plant suggestions within people's minds."

"He told you that?" Garet said with a raised eyebrow.

"Among many other bits of useless and annoying information, yes." Jenna said as she unfurled the first piece of paper. "Okay, me, and Mia will accost Jenna here, and Ivan will be hiding in _this_ tree…" She said, pointing. "While we talk to her, Ivan is to try and plant several suggestions of a relationship."

Garet shook his head. "Seriously… you think this will work?"

Jenna shrugged. "Hey, you never know until you try. Right, Ivan?"

It was only then that they realized that Ivan was not in the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix whistled to himself as he sat by the waterfall, carving at a piece of wood he had found earlier outside his home. A second later, he broke into a congenial smile as he saw Ivan stomping up to him.

"Why, hello, Ivan!" Felix said. "Do you happen to realize your hair is currently pink in colour? A rather nice shade too, I might add."

"Cut the crap!" Ivan bellowed, looking incensed. Or, well, as incensed as one as cute as Ivan could look. Especially with the whole pink hair thing and all… but that's going off topic. "**_YOU_** did this to me!"

Felix looked surprised for a moment, as if considering that. Then he nodded. "Why, yes. Yes, I do believe I did."

Ivan narrowed his eyes. "By your own agreement, you aren't allowed to try to win Sheba's heart! You lost the drinking contest fair and square!"

Felix raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "My dear Ivan, I agreed not to try to court Sheba, true. But, apparently, you seem to have forgotten that we never agreed that I couldn't sabotage _your_ attempts, hmm?"

Ivan merely sputtered a few inarticulate words before whirling around and stomping away. Felix shook his head and continued fishing. "He needs to lighten up, that one…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_I hate this…_ _Why did I have to be the fall guy for all of their stupid ideas? Not one of them has worked so far!_ Ivan thought grumpily as he perched on his precarious position atop a tree. The fact that the Lure Cap kept slipping in front of his eyes didn't help too much either. But that was the only thing in his possession that could cover up his hair, he was forced to wear it.

_Oh, right. I'm doing this because I'M the one in love with Sheba. Is that an indication of the power of love? Or just exactly how nuts I am?_ Ivan sighed. _At this rate, I think it's the latter._

For the moment, though, he pushed aside a branch. Yep, Sheba was walking up the hill, humming a tune to herself. And for a second, Ivan forgot all his troubles as he stared, transfixed, at her.

Until the branch he was standing on cracked, and Ivan was forced to scramble for another foothold. That broke his reverie rather quickly.

Finding a stable branch, he leaned out once more. Yup, Sheba was almost directly under the tree, and Mia and Jenna were walking up to her. _Come to think of it, I have no idea how to pull this off in the first place. Guess I'll just try to activate Mind Read and send a thought to her at the same time._

_Here goes nothing…_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jenna scanned the treetop, trying to look as she was glancing around disinterestedly. She caught sight of some rustling in the bushes, and a flash of purple.

"Guess Ivan got into position." Jenna said to herself. Beside her, Mia was doing her best to keep Sheba in one place. And she suspected the rest of the gang was around here somewhere too.

Letting her gaze move back to Sheba, she noted that the female Jupiter adept kept blinking and shaking her head slightly. Did this mean that it was working? Jenna couldn't tell.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Doing his best to keep silent, Ivan continued channeling the spell, all the time unhappily aware that the instant Sheba chose to glance up, his cover was blown. But… in the name of love, or stupidity- Ivan couldn't decide which- he was still here, in this dang tree.

Suddenly, Ivan became aware of a prickly feeling on his neck. Twisting, he managed to grab at whatever was crawling along his neck without falling. Bringing it to his face, his eyes widened as he saw what it was.

Eight glassy, black eyes stared back at him. A spider. 

Ivan blinked, feeling an incredible sense of dread come over him. Slowly, oh so slowly, he turned to look behind him. He would never admit it to any of the gang, but he was deathly afraid of spiders. Maybe it had something to do with almost meeting his end at the hands of a Giant Spider when trying to save Tret. But that's another story.

Funny thing about spiders. Funny thing about Lure Caps.

As Ivan watched with horror, dozens, maybe hundreds of spiders erupted from various cracks in the bark, all headed for him. 

Ivan decided his current action should have been attributed to stupidity.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sheba groaned softly. She had had a headache since she woke up this morning, and in the past few minutes, it had rapidly grown worse. She really, _really_ needed a soft bed right now. Unfortunately, Mia wasn't exactly helping by refusing to let her move from her current position.

Trying not to sound too snappish, Sheba raised a hand. "Yes, Mia. I think your new dress is fascinating. However, I have a bad headache right now, so-" Unfortunately she never got to finish her sentence, as something soft hit her on the head. Rubbing her head slightly, she looked down to see… "A Lure Cap?"

"What the-?" Glancing upwards, she was just barely able to catch a glimpse of _someone_ in the tree, trying desperately to keep out of sight. Squinting, she tried her best to see who it was, but her pounding headache made it difficult to see who it was… and she didn't think she knew anyone with pink hair anyway…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isaac peeked out from behind the bushes, staring at the scene below him. _Crap._ He thought. Shifting his view, he noted that Sheba was staring at the tree, trying out figure who was in it. Mia seemed to swaying slightly in place, and Jenna was hurriedly signaling to Isaac to _do_ something.

Shaking his head, Isaac decided that the most current, and pressing subject was getting Isaac out of there. Concentrating mentally, he sent a wave of Venus psynergy to the tree that Ivan was hanging on.

"Hope it works…" Isaac muttered under his breath.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ivan was currently engaged in a game of "Shake the Spider From Your Foot", with the spiders winning, 520 to 0. Suddenly, he was made aware that there was a strange golden light shining around him. He was also aware that the branch that was currently his only support was starting to beginning to glow as well.

And lastly, he managed to catch a glimpse of the branch straightening out once again, and suddenly, he was in the air, screaming his head off as he flew in an arcing trajectory over Vale.

As he finally stopped screaming, he looked down… to see that he was currently falling straight down.

The screaming restarted, until…

BALOOOOSSH!!

"Sure have been a lot of kids falling into the waterfall these days."

"A-yup."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Breath slowly hovered in the air, mentally calculating the radius needed. After all, this was their one chance to make good, and she-

"Breath?" Gust called from below. "We're ready to start the next phase."

"Got it, got it." She said wearily, floating down to ground level. "Any news from damage control?"

Damage control, or Fizz, was more or less in charge of monitoring the djinn, and making sure they didn't screw up. Or… best as best, not screw up _too_ much.

"Well, Scorch and Flash got into an argument over who was the better djinni, and they started a fire fight that most of the other Mars djinn joined purely because it involved fire. Salt and Whorl tipped over a bucket of paint just now, and Breeze is now a very lovely shade of yellow. Flint, Fever, and Hail have been doing their best to annoy the heck out of Gel and Chill, and I think they succeeded, if the frozen icicles all around the area is anything to go by. Luff, Squall, and Smog have formed the brotherhood of Jupiter, and are currently attempting a hostile takeover of the world." Fizz read out from her list.

"Eh, that's it?" Breath sighed in relief. "I thought there'd be more."

"Well, we've been busy lately." Fizz replied. "In any case, we're ready to set the supports."

Gust turned to the various djinn assembled around the area. "Alright!" He yelled as loud as possible. "All of you get ready!"

Breath fluttered over to Gust's side to watch as the djinn, most of them Venus or Mercury, gripped ropes, tugging on them as slowly, ever so slowly, the support struts edged up, to stand perfectly ninety degrees.

"Good, now the second one…" Breath said as she flew over to the other side.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Wise One glared angrily with his single eye at the djinn cavorting about the mountain. 

"How dare they?" He boomed. "How dare they desecrate the sacred guarding place of Mt. Aleph?! How dare they-" He was interrupted by a whining sound coming from below him.

"Can I get out yet?" Alex whined.

"Shut up." The Wise One replied. Turning back to face the djinn, he snarled as best as he possibly could without a mouth or a second eye. "Soon, you will know my vengeance…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh, come on!" Isaac grumbled as he cast Potent Cure on Ivan again. "Look on the bright side! At least the impact of falling into the river knocked away the spiders. And look! It also washed away all your pink hair dye!"

"Oh yes." Ivan replied. "At the cost of breaking every bone in my body. What a wonderful trade-off."

"Yeesh." Isaac said. "Stop being so grumpy and start being grateful I decided to heal you."

"Alright, alright." Ivan stood up on his bed, stretching a little. "At least I can walk again."

Just then, Garet, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "How did it go with Sheba anyway?" As he finished his sentence, he cast a weak Flare on Ivan, drying him off.

Ivan shrugged, stretching slightly. "I dunno. She didn't seem to have any reaction whatsoever. But then again… I didn't really get a good look. Only time will tell, I guess."

Just then, the door flew open, and a flying blur tackled Ivan, sending him to the floor. Struggling somewhat, he managed to force the person off, and to look her in the eye.

It was Mia.

"Oh, Ivan dear!" She purred. "Where were you? I was so worried about you after you got catapulted out of the tree! Is my little snookums okay?"

"Mia, what-" Ivan wasn't able to get another word out before Mia tackled him again sending him crashing to the ground.

Isaac stared at his wife, devastated. "What the heck is happening?!" He yelled.

Garet raised an eyebrow. "If I had to guess, I'd say Ivan's spell succeeded. He merely overlooked the question of aim."

Ivan finally managed to force Mia off again, and utilizing his natural Jupiter speed, he took off. Mia stared at him for a minute, before running off after him. "No, Ivan dear! Don't leave me behind!"

Jenna, who had just appeared at the doorway, glanced around. "Hey, why'd Ivan run off screaming like-" Was all she managed to say before Mia bowled her over as she ran out the doorway herself.

Forcing herself back to her feet, Jenna stared at the two adepts inside. One dumbstruck, and the other calm. What scared her more was that her husband, Garet, was the calm one.

"Okay, what just happened?" She asked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sheba shook her head as she walked by the river. Her headache had vanished, and currently, she was busy enjoying the breeze. As she rounded the bend, her smile widened as she caught side of Ivan running towards her.

"Hey, Ivan!" She smiled. "What are you-"

"Hide me." Ivan squeaked.

Sheba blinked. "Pardon?"

"Hide me." Ivan said again before diving into a nearby bush. Frowning, Sheba looked around for a source of whatever could have scared the Jupiter Adept so. She didn't have to look far. She soon caught sight of Mia roaming the area, calling plaintively out for her "Ivan-chan".

Blinking, Sheba sidled over to the bush that contained her friend. "What happened?" She asked.

The bush rustled slightly before Ivan's voice replied. "Trust me, you don't want to know. Just… just… just don't draw attention to me, please."

Nodding and raising an eyebrow, Sheba walked over to Mia. "Um… Mia?"

Mia whirled around, fire in her eyes. "Ivan! Where is he! You have seen him! Where?!"

Sheba took an involuntary step back. Mia looked around wildly again. "Ivan… need Ivan-chan." She moaned "Need to hold his soft warm body to my own and lo-"

"Okay, time out!" Sheba yelled. "I really don't need that mental image." She murmured to herself. Louder, she said. "Oh, you know what? I thought I saw Ivan down by the entrance just no-" 

This was turning out to be a pretty bad day for finishing sentences, all things considered. Mia had already taken off, towards then plaza, pausing only when she tripped on a rock. Then she got up and started running again.

Sheba gave a tiny little sigh as she walked towards the bush. "All clear." She said, and Ivan's head popped out of the bush, followed by the rest of his body.

Ivan glanced around, looking like a scared little mouse, wary of a cat. Finally, he seemed to notice Sheba, and turned to her. "Um…" he said. "Could I crash at your house? I really don't want Mia knowing where I am."

Sheba gave a wry smile as she helped Ivan to his feet. "All right, then." She said. "I have a spare bed, if you want it…"

Ivan gave a lopsided grin. "Or what? Sleep in the same bed as you?"

Sheba chuckled and hit him lightly on the arm. "Pervert." She smirked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The moon was already high in the sky (hey, that rhymed!) as Ivan finished the dinner that Sheba had prepared for him. "Sorry if I'm imposing on you…" Sheba for her part, smiled and shook her head.

"Don't be silly, Ivan. What's a few meals between friends? You're a light eater, in any case."

Ivan smiled and stood. "Thanks for letting me stay over too."

"Yeah… no biggie." Sheba replied off-handedly as she herself stood.

Shaking his head to clear away the weariness, Ivan started up the stairs, and glanced around. "Shit." He muttered to himself. "Now which one was my room again?" After glancing around, he found a more-or-less empty room with nothing but a bed in it. "Probably the guest room." He concluded, and entered it. "Wonder why she stuck a flower on the door?" He yawned. Collapsing onto the bed, he was soon fast asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ivan?" Sheba said as she climbed the staircase. "I forgot to tell you where your room was-" Then she stopped short, glancing around in confusion. " 'Guess he's found the room by himself. Pretty obvious, come to think of it. Tons of furniture everywhere." Going to her own room, which was pretty much bare, Sheba opened the door with a huge yawn. She was more tired than she realized. Thus said, she closed the door, leaving the flower hanging on the outside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix still got into bouts of chuckles whenever he thought about how ridiculous Ivan looked. "I guess I got my revenge pretty well." He said to no one in particular as he strolled near the side of one of Vale's cliffs.

Suddenly, he looked around. Had he heard a shout? Peering about, he was about to say something when he saw someone rushing in wide, irregular patterns in his general direction. In the dim light of the moon, he couldn't tell who it was…

Suddenly, whoever the person was stopped short, and rushed towards him. Felix backed away slowly, startled. "Hey, wha-?"

"IVAN!" Mia shrieked in his face. "Where is he?!"

"I- I, uh…" Felix gulped mentally as he backed up, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the obviously insane Mia. "I, uh, I don't know?"

Unfortunately, one should not go backing up when you are very close to the edge of a cliff. This holds doubly true if someone in front of you is holding your attention, and you have forgotten to look behind you.

Felix screamed all the way down.

THUMP!

"…"

"…"

"Sure have been a lot of fool kids falling over cliffs lately."

"A-yup."


	5. Thursday

Um, yeah. Fire Emblem's eating up all my spare time.. I ****ing hate 26X. Anyone who plays that will know what I mean.

Well, as long as I'm updating, I might as well do reviewer responses. Oo, look! What a lot of them!

warpstarmaster122: Um… yeah. In case you don't know, every story gets cliffhangers one way or another. Unless it's a pure humor fic. Then it gets stupid. And, no. Felix's karma hasn't even _begun_ to show itself yet. Mwehehe.

Joker's Specter: Um, yeah. I did part of the last chapter at two in the morning. I seem to be doing that more often nowadays… Anyway, yeah, glad you liked the old guys. They were a 'spur of the moment thing'.

xT-Zealot: Really? (tears up) I- I'm so happy!

Deadly Butterflys: Uh, yeah. _Real_ off.

NintendoGamer: I'll take it from your review you like the old guys, huh? Thanks! Funny stuff is my specialty! Well, that, and battle scenes, if my reviews in Sands is anything to go by… I wonder how I'd do at straight mushy scenes, though. Hmm…

some one: I'll assume exhalent is excellent, then. Why, why, thank you! Thank you _so_ much! (sniffs) Too kind, really.

Muchiko: Oh, yes, I'll update. And Felix… he's Felix. That's all I'll say.

Lu Xun 88: Another one who likes the old guys?! Maybe I should add more of 'em… And to clarify, Mia is _not_ insane. She's merely madly in love with Ivan. And if any of you think being in love with Ivan _is_ insane, you don't belong in this story.

The 8BTFreek: Yet another one who makes a reference to the old geezers. Maybe I'll become a billionaire if I invest in action figures of those two guys… nah. And, really, what's true love if you don't have to go through a few pitfalls in the way? And get more Windshipping in Against My Friends, will you? Thanks.

Lord Isaac: Well… the Mauler is for continuity purposes. And anyway, they'd be hard pressed to find three people willing to be stuck to each other for the rest of their lives, no?

Jupiter Sprite: Thanks! I really should add more of those old men, if you people like 'em so much… And yes, I'll be kind to him. But don't you think getting to spend the entire night with Sheba isn't good enough? Okay, maybe if he were _aware_ of it…

Well, let's get on with it, then. Chapter ain't gonna write itself.

 *~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thursday

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ungh!" Isaac grunted as he finally managed to secure the bonds surrounding Mia. No easy task, considering his (and her) current state. He had found her wandering about town last night in a dazed state, and had managed to wrestle her back to their home (and ending up in several compromising positions along the way).

Now, the sun had risen, he was tired, grumpy, and he had just finished tying up his wife (even though she didn't seem to realize it anymore) to a chair, with Garet's aid. As he wiped his brow, he stepped back to look at his work.

"Is this really necessary?" Jenna asked as she looked at the still-struggling Mia.

"Unless you want Ivan scared out of maybe fifteen years of his life, yes." Garet replied. Just then, the door opened and Picard stepped in.

"So?" Isaac gestured tiredly to the ropes. "You're the seaman, what do you think?"

Picard put his hand under his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know…" He finally said. "I'm not really into bondage…" A second later, he ducked and rolled to avoid several jets of fire, not to mention a psynergetic sword aimed his way. "Kidding!" He yelled. "Kidding!"

Isaac and Garet finally halted the assaults, glaring at Picard. "The ropes." Isaac motioned.

After inspecting them, Picard straightened out and nodded. "They'll hold."

"And what about these?" Jenna asked cynically as she kicked open a cupboard door. Inside, for all the world to see, was Felix struggling ferociously against the bonds that held him tight.

"Okay, _his_ story?" Picard asked.

"Found him half-conscious near the bottom of one of the cliffs." Jenna said offhandedly. "Decided to bring him back and prevent him from causing anymore trouble."

"Ah." Picard said. "In any case, our latest plan is ready. Who wants to come view it?" With general words of consent, the adepts left the room, leaving behind an _extremely_ angry Felix, and a Mia still pining for her "Ivan-chan".

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sunlight filtered in softly through the window, painting the room in various shades of yellow, orange and gold. Not a sound was heard throughout the entire house.

Sheba stirred, a soft murmuring emanating from her mouth. As she blinked sleepily, she rose to stare sleepily at the rising sun. With a yawn, she stretched lithely and hopped out of the bed. Funny. She had been having the weirdest dream about sleeping in the same bed as Ivan-

"Ummh…"

She froze. Then, very, _very_ slowly, she turned around. Ivan lay, fast asleep, on her bed, to the side. As she watched, he moaned unconsciously and twisted over in the bed, murmuring sleepily to himself.

_WHAT_ was Ivan doing in her bed?! Sheba blinked as she stared, still silent, at Ivan. One part of her brain quickly arrived at a conclusion: Ivan was a pervert who had snuck in at night.

Rational thought, however, quickly won. Ivan _wasn't_ a pervert. She had seen enough of him in their travels to realize that. So… the most likely reason was that he had stumbled in here by accident last night, and, well… this was more or less a desired result.

Okay, first question solved. Second question. How was she to actually remove him from her bed? She wasn't a titan in terms of physical strength, nor was Ivan light as a feather (although, admittedly, he was lighter than most of her friends). She didn't really think conjuring up a magical wind to shift him to the guest room was going to work, either. What then?

As she mentally ran through all the possibilities of extricating her fellow Jupiter Adept from the room, she continued to observe him with one part of her mind. Strange, he'd never seemed quite so vulnerable. Nor did he ever seem so… well, she couldn't find the correct word in her mind.

As she watched, he half-turned in the bed once again, golden hair shining in the morning sun. Shaking her head slightly, she reached down to tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

"Sheba…" She froze. Ivan was talking in his sleep again. As she quickly scooted backwards, Ivan frowned slightly, and turned one last time, before settling back down into a deep sleep.

Sheba raised an eyebrow and sighed. "I suppose I can expect you not to get into any trouble?"

With silence as her only answer, she sighed one more time before leaving the room. Vale was definitely for the weird ones…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ummph!" Fury gritted his teeth as he pulled out another crate of dynamite from the hole he and Cannon had managed to create in the mountainside. This was tiring, backbreaking work, but soon, it would be all worth it. They would create the biggest explosion ever see since the eruption of Mt. Aleph, and the names of Fury and Cannon would go down in history!

Ah, forever to be remembered…

His pleasant daydreams were interrupted by Cannon's head poking out of the hole in the side of the partially-ruined mountain. "Fur?"

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that." Fury grumbled as he hopped down from his vantage point. "What is it?"

"I need some help." Cannon indicated a crate filled with a strange powder. Fury bent over, and with some effort, managed to decipher the rough words sketched onto the crate's side.

_Solid KOH2. Do NOT mix with liquid CaSO4._

"Uh?" Fury muttered under his breath.

"So, uh, should we carry it up?"

"Does it explode?"

Cannon grabbed a few grains from the crate and tossed them onto the ground. As he cast a weak Flare, the cavern was illuminated in a sudden blaze of heat and light.

"Yep." He confirmed.

"Carry it up."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ivan emerged from the guest room, rubbing his eyes sleepily. As he stretched and yawned, he noticed Sheba already downstairs, preparing breakfast.

"Oh, you're up earlier than usual." She laughed as she half-turned to look at him. "What'll it be for breakfast, then?"

Ivan managed a half-smile as he slid into a chair. "Uh, if you don't mind, actually, I'll not take breakfast at your house."

That got Sheba's attention. "Why not?" She asked. Then a half-smile appeared on her face, unseen by Ivan. "You mean… you don't like my cooking?" She said, trying to adopt as sad a tone as she possibly could. _Damn. How those Mia do it on Isaac?! She makes it look so natural!_ Regardless, she had apparently got it down well enough, if Ivan's reaction was anything to go by.

The Jupiter Adept had very quickly gone through several facial expressions, most of them generally a variant of 'unhappy'. "I- I, uh- t-that is…" He stammered incoherently.

Sheba managed to hold the stern expression a moment longer before bursting into laughter. "You're so easy to tease, you know that?" She chortled, wiping away tears of mirth from her eyes.

Ivan's eyes narrowed, and he frowned slightly. "Y'know, " He said as lightly as he could. "That wasn't exactly a nice way to use your feminine wiles."

Sheba raised an eyebrow before returning to the steaming pot in front of her. "Well, you can consider it repayment for spending the night in the same bed as me."

"Uh-huh." Ivan muttered sorely to himself. Then the impact of what Sheba just said chose that exact moment to whack him upside the head. "I- wuh –WHAT?!" He sputtered.

"You heard me." Sheba replied evenly as she stirred the porridge in her pot. "You- I'm assuming- accidentally stumbled into my room, assuming that it was the guest room, and thus, went to sleep. Me, suffering from a rather bad headache for the better part of the day, was feeling rather tired and thus did not bother to check if anyone was inhabiting my bed. And that brings us to where we are now." As she said that, she watched Ivan's face go through a rather large and varying range of colours, most of them closely linked to red.

"I- I would never deliberately do that. I- It was a-an accident. Y-you know that, right?" Ivan managed to stutter out, doing a great impression of a man pleading for his life. And as far as Ivan was concerned, he _was_ pleading for his life. If this incident caused Sheba to end up hating him, he might do something drastic. Something as drastic like the time Jenna had initially turned down Garet's marriage proposal.

Well, okay, maybe he _wouldn't_ try to tap dance outside the window with a bucket on his head. He still wanted to protect his (apparently shredded, pulverized, crushed, etc) dignity. But still, getting hated by Sheba (a.k.a. light of his life) would rank right up there with eating spinach. Maybe even worse.

"Well…" Sheba paused just a bit longer than was absolutely necessary. She knew she really shouldn't be behaving like this, but Ivan was just plain _fun_ to tease. Not to mention easy. "Oh, all right." She said, hiding a secret smile. "I'll let it go."

Ivan's next breath came out in a huge sigh of relief. As he leaned back tiredly, he was vaguely aware of Sheba placing a bowl on the table, filled with steaming hot porridge.

"Breakfast?" She asked gamely.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix remained absolutely still. They were gone. The traitors.

He thought he could trust them. But no… they had betrayed him. They had all betrayed him. He was alone in this world.

Luckily enough, he had long since learned never to trust anybody. That had been in Prox… after he had been taken there by the late Saturos and Mernadi. They had been kind enough to give him a dog. An… Alsatian. It was well-suited for the freezing weather of the cold north.

But what they _didn't_ know was that the dog… it had betrayed him. It had tried to _kill_ him! Kill Felix! Every night, it would creep into Felix's room, slowly, stealthily, and then… it would… it would _stare_ at him! Always, he could feel it's hot breath on his neck, it's… it's malevolent eyes glinting in the near-darkness. And Saturos and Mernadi had been deaf to his pleas that they remove the wretched thing forever from the household. But he had gotten the better of it! Yes, it had been a sweet day when he had finally turned away the evil, _evil_ dog forever! He had seen it off from the house, tail between it's legs! It was gone! _Gone_, vanished forever! The canine assassin was no more, and at last he could rest easy in the nights, secure that no one was out to murder him.

Until the cat discovered where Saturos kept his dagger…

But that was irrelevant, Felix reminded himself. Focus. Focus on the task at hand.

Foolish adepts, thinking they could tie him up with ropes?! He had battled the Doom Dragon, he had bested Dullahan, he had defeated the cursed Alsatian, and they sought to tie him up with ropes?! He laughed at the thought!

Felix decided to ignore the fact that he had spent the majority of the Doom Dragon battle unconscious, owing to a well-aimed Cruel Ruin attack. Ditto for the Dullahan fight, and a Formina Sage.

But that's another matter entirely. Focusing deep inwards, Felix created a sphere of Venus Psynergy, which quickly surged into existence, forming into three magnificent swords, the components of the powerful Odyssey spell. That finished, he directed the swords inwards, slicing through the ropes with ease.

However, when one is tied (very securely) to the ropes upon which the spell is cast, the swords don't really bother to make any distinction between ropes and the caster. Felix learnt this particular lesson very quickly. (Albeit painfully)

But this was not enough to deter him. Standing, he cast Potent Cure on himself, before checking to ensure that all his bonds were cut. Satisfied, he threw his arms to the air and laughed.

"FREEEDOM!" He cackled. Then, he rushed out of the door. He would find Sheba before Ivan did… and he would tell her everything. _Everything!_ And then she would fall in love with him and all would be well.

_Thud!_

"Dang tree root." Felix muttered before picking himself up.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Picard slowly made his way up the craggy mountainside. His latest plan involved injecting several pheromones found in the concentrated sap of the Mad Plant on Sheba. Thus was supposed, apparently, to make the target (Sheba) extremely malleable in terms of suggestions concerning romance and politics. And he had ensured that it was not barbeque sauce

Luckily enough, he reflected, Jenna and Ivan had not been told of this plan, as they would more than likely raise all hell about manipulation, and Ivan would probably want Sheba to fall in love with him naturally anyway. He had his own misgivings about this whole affair, as it was. But Isaac had cheerfully informed him that the effects were only temporary, and had managed to quell, however temporarily, his worries.

Turning, he noticed Isaac signaling frantically. Readying his weapon – a blowpipe, Garet had called it-, he saw Sheba emerging for a brief stroll.

Taking careful aim, he crouched low, ready to fire. Isaac headed over to Sheba, to try to keep her in one place. Ready, aim, fi-

THWACK!

Picard slumped over, and the dart went wide.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh, for the love of Venus! I swear, Blitz, you're impossible!"

"What?" The Jupiter djinni argued. "He was close to discovering our position! I had to take the necessary precautions to ensure he doesn't find out about the project!

Ground rolled her eyes before turning over to the unconscious form of the Lemurian. "He wasn't even facing this way! And the crater is a good half-mile upwards! There's no way he could have discovered it!"

"Better safe than sorry." Blitz obstinately replied. 

Before Ground could continue, however, Shade hopped down, carrying a bundle of steel rods. "Hey, guy and gal!" She yelled. "Hurry up! That thing ain't gonna build itself, ya'know!" Then she stopped short as she caught sight of her master's unconscious form.

Ground made several discreet nothing-to-do-with-_me_ motions before sauntering away.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay, let me get this straight." Breath asked in disbelief. "You're telling me, that because Blitz decided to bean Picard on the head and knock him out, Shade has rallied the Mercury Djinn in a war against the elements of Jupiter for vengeance.?"

"More or less. She calls it the Holy War of Mercurian Vengeance." Gust confirmed unhappily. Hopping over to the edge of the tent they had temporarily set up, he opened one of the flaps, allowing Breath to peer outside. "Observe."

The scene outside was one of chaos. Over a dozen Mercury djinni were hopping around, taking cover in crags, firing blasts of Mercury Psynergy, and getting pelted by lightning rays from the Jupiter Djinni occupying the higher ground. As she watched, she saw a Jupiter Djinni –Gale?- divebomb the group of Mercury Djinni.

"Jupiter is superior!" He cried as he unleashed a windstorm that knocked away a Mercury Djinni trying to sneak up him. Then Shade leaped onto a tall rock.

"Sally, my brethren!" She yelled. "The fall of the noble Lemurian Picard must be avenged!" Creating a shield, she deflected Gale's attacks, before replying with a squirt of water at him.

"Good Jupiter." Breath muttered tiredly. She definitely had not bargained for this. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several Mars and Venus Djinn doing their best to go about their work as usual, and Fizz trying desperately to halt the war. She wasn't too successful at all, Breath noted.

She would have wept had she possessed the capability.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Enough of this!" The Wise One boomed. "It was bad enough that they desecrated the sacred mountain so, but now… _now_, they have completely ruined the Mount! They must pay for this!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Alex muttered sardonically as settled down to read a book. Something called "Lord of the Elemental Stars."

"They shall pay for it!" He bellowed again. "And I shall ensure it!" Thus saying, he began to rise to the air.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Fog concentrated, sending a wave of icicles pouring into the ranks of the Jupiter Djinn. Most of the scattered, but Wheeze shot forward instead, knocking him to the ground.

Angrily, Fog climbed to his feet again, before kicking the irritating Jupiter Djinni away. Wheeze quickly rose to the air, and fired a lightning bolt at him.

With a snarl, Fog aimed his next Ice Missile spell straight at the Jupiter Djinni in the sky. "Try this on for size!" He yelled.

Wheeze rolled his eyes. "You know how much you sound like a cheesy comic book villain?" He laughed.

Fog fired off the spell, watching as the icicle projectiles surged through the air. There was no possible way Wheeze could avoid them…

Then he saw Haze, twisting in midair and a smoky cloud covered her entire form, until she fired the cloud straight at Wheeze, covering him completely.

The icicles flew past… smacking the Wise One who had appeared right behind Wheeze right in the eye. With a howl of pain, the Wise One floated back into Mt. Aleph, leaving the dumbstruck Djinn wondering what the heck just happened.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Remember that day when we met again on Jupiter Lighthouse?" Ivan asked, a smile on his face as he recalled the day, so many ages back.

"I recall you lying in a pool of your own blood." Sheba replied, a tiny smile on her face.

"Hey, you try fighting when you're constrained to a pathway that barely leaves you any dodging room." Ivan countered gamely. Then, as an afterthought, he added. 'What did Isaac want anyway?"

"Strangest thing." Sheba shrugged. "He started complimenting me on my dress, even though it's the exact same thing I wear just about everyday. But the longer it went on, the more nervous he seemed to get. After a while, he just excused himself and went off in the general direction of Mt. Aleph."

Ivan nursed his cup of coffee, before taking a sip. Just then, he heard a weak scratching at the door. "Hm? What's that?"

Sheba had already stood up,  and walking over to the door, she opened it. "Wha-?" She managed. A weak, mangy dog barely managed to stagger in through the doorway before collapsing on the floor.

"What in- a dog?" Ivan murmured as he hurriedly went to it's side. From the look of things, this was an Alsatian breed, more usually suited to the freezing temperatures of the North. They could handle themselves just fine in this climate, though. Just not without food, which this pitiable creature obviously lacked.

"It looks half-starved, the poor thing." Sheba said affectionately as she stroked it's thick fur. "Ivan, could you get me that packet of meat in the cabinet? And ground it up, if you don't mind." With a nod, Ivan disappeared into the kitchen.

Sheba slowly fondled the dog's fur. From the look of things, it was about five years old in human time, and although it was weak and gasping, it's eyes were alert and intelligent. Grabbing a bowl and her mug of water, she poured it's contents into the bowl, smiling slightly as the dog lapped it up greedily. Just then, Ivan appeared at the kitchen doorway, holding a plate of venision.

As they watched the dog eat it's meal at the speed of a vacuum, Sheba shook her head with amusement. "Seems I've found myself a new pet." She said wryly.

"What are you going to name it?" Ivan asked.

"Shee… I think I can decide that later." She laughed. "Meantime, I think I'll take it out for a walk." She turned to face Ivan with a tiny grin. "Care to join me?"

_Let's see, spend some time here in a stuffy house, or go out with the True Love of my life, walking though the paths of Vale, and enjoying her company. Oh, that's a tough one._ Ivan thought. "Why not?" He replied.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix ran over the slight rise, grinning. Soon, he would be in Sheba's house, and he'd be able to confess that he loved her, vows of agreement be danged. And there was nothing that the stupid shrimp could do about it! Hah!

As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of Sheba. _Perfect!_ He crowed. He was about to increase his speed to meet her, but what he caught sight of next changed his mind very quickly.

Ivan was right beside Sheba, a slightly goofy smile on his face. He was also, damningly enough, holding _hands_ with Sheba, as they strolled the streets, seemingly oblivious to anything else. That, however, was not what made Felix halt in terror.

It was… it was… it was the… the d- d- d…

The Alsatian pricked it's ears up as it caught sight of a vaguely familiar scent. Glancing around, it quickly pinpointed the source, and started after it in a slow easy lope.

Which was enough to send Felix screaming as he ran away like the hounds of Hades were after him.

Sheba stared at the fast-retreating figure of Felix with a fair amount of bewilderment. "What's his damage?" She asked. Ivan merely shrugged.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay, battle over?" Breath snapped. "Good. Fine lot you are. I'm sure your masters will be just _ecstatict_ to know that you started blasting the snot out of each other over the knocking out of a single Mercury Adept. Thank the Elements the Venus and Mars Djinn had more sense than you. Now, if you want to have any hope whatsoever of completing the project before the deadline, I suggest you hop to it. NOW!" Her last shout was enough for every djinn in the vicinity to scramble for the crater, fumbling over their various tasks.

Breath sighed. "Behind schedule, a dysfunctional crew, and Scorch accidentally burnt the plans. At this rate, we'll need a miracle to finish this…" Shaking her head, she started after the others.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_She held my hand_. Ivan lay in the silence of the night, still staring at the hand which had grasped Sheba's own for the better part of the afternoon.

_I am in such a state of complete and utter joy right now that if I actually manage to get to sleep, it will be a total miracle._ Ivan noted as he lay on his bed. As he lay in the dark, heart aglow, he could almost still smell her scent.

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft padding of feet in the hallway. Sitting up, he saw that the dog had entered his room. "What's the matter?" He asked it sleepily. In response, the dog hopped onto his bed.

"Well," Ivan laughed with good humor. "You're no Sheba, but you'll do, I suppose." The Alsatian merely glanced at him before settling down into a deep sleep.

"I suppose I should follow your example, then." Ivan chuckled softly to the dark. _Talking to myself again?_ _Well, I guess that doesn't change the fact that Sheba held my hand, and I am so totally blown away by this I can't even begin to express the utter joy I feel because she HELD MY HAND and wow, I think it's still warm and it fitted into my palm so nicely and all…_ With these mental ramblings stored away for the moment, Ivan allowed himself one more sigh before cast Sleep on himself, slipping into darkness, and sweet thoughts of Sheba in his dreams.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two more chapters to go! And the biggest hurdle yet presents itself tomorrow! Or, maybe it doesn't. Just wait for an update. Ha.

And let me tell you, this chapter did not want to get written. The second section of this, you might say. The whole waking up scene. But, I'm done, it's here, so enjoy.

Till next time!


	6. Friday

The Great St. Valentine's Day Fiasco

Flux this stupid Quickedit. It deletes all my barriers, and now I have to improvise. (Insert random curses)

Anyway, if you're expecting a quick update on Sands, expect a disappointment because I have a case of writer's block with that thing. I have the concept in mind, I just can't flesh it out.

Where were we? Oh, right. Story. Here goes.

I don't own this.

()()()()()

Friday

()()()()()

Friday means different things to different people. In our fast paced world, it means one last day of torture before the two days of bliss, known as the weekend, for our leisure and enjoyment.

To others, it merely means yet another day in their endless grind of setting up their provision shops, or stores, the usual thing that has to operate 24-7 in our world.

In _Weyard_, however…

Dora wandered through the marketplace, picking up vegetables, bartering with the shopkeepers for their usual wares. Soon, the day's shopping would be finished, she could go home to a cozy house, and cook breakfast.

Isaac sat lazily sharpening his Sol Blade, while at the same time keeping an eye on his wife. She was still struggling and moaning for her Ivan-chan. At the rate this was going, Ivan wouldn't get Sheba, Mia would still be deranged, and where were the djinni anyway? He had a feeling he didn't really want to know.

"Hey, kids!" Garet yelled to the toddler population of Vale. "Anyone wanna play a game?"

"A game! A game!" They chorused. "What are we gonna play, Uncle Garet?"

"Well…" Garet tapped his chin for a minute before replying. "How about… whack the piñata!" With that, he sliced through a rope, and brightly coloured bundle dropped from the boughs of the tree, to the delighted shouts of the kids.

"Here, take these." Garet grinned, passing out wooden sticks. "Just don't hit too hard, though. Wouldn't want it to break too early, would we?"

As the children descended on the piñata with shouts of joy, Garet leant down to the bundle and whispered. "Once you apologize to Ivan for how you've been treating him, we'll consider letting you out, okay, Felix?"

There was no response save several inarticulate sounds of fury. Whistling, Garet strode away as the kids continued to bash at the brightly coloured package, heedless of the cries of pain.

()()()()()

Ivan sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. At his feet, the Alsatian stirred slightly before waking and hopping off.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door, and Sheba opened it. "Ivan?" She asked. "Ah, good. You're awake. Listen, I have to go run a few errands, so… will you be alright by yourself?"

Ivan chuckled slightly. "I'm the same age as you, Sheba. Not a baby. I can take care of myself."

"Considering all that's gone on in the village these few days, I'm not sure of that anymore." Sheba shook her head. "The other day, I saw some weirdo with pink hair spying on me and Mia from a tree!"

"Uh, yeah." Ivan replied as he raised an eyebrow. "Weird."

()()()()()

Gripping a rope, Breath slowly heaved the pylon up, aligning it perfectly with the other pylons, all in a row.

Sighing, she turned to regard Gust, who was overseeing the painting and the lighting.

"It'll work?" She asked. Gust nodded. "Unless there's a freak storm, yes. And being Jupiter Djinn, we can predict the weather more accurately than most, no?

"I still say it's luck." Flint grumbled as he hacked away at a persistent rock. "No one can predict the weather that accurately."

"I predict lightning will strike the very spot where you stand." Gust said offhandedly without bothering to look up.

"Yeah, right. You don't scare me with that stupid-"

KRACKA-BOOM!

"No comment." Breath muttered. "Someone get a Mercury Djinni here! We need Ply and Douse!"

()()()()()

Ivan slumped back on his chair, staring with weary eyes at the chart opposite him. From what he could make out of it, it involved a catapult, a dog, and five gallons of grape juice.

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and wished that Garet had better handwriting. Then, the next time he happened to chance on one of the love notes he wrote Jenna, he'd actually be able to _read_ it.

His reverie was broken by Garet rapping the table. Isaac and Jenna sat at the side, looking for all the world like a pair of bored people.

"Alright." Garet snapped. "Today is Friday, the last day before the Valentine's Day ball, and the Annual Blessing of the Psynergy stone. Our last chance to make sure Ivan hooks up with Sheba. And thus, we must give it our all! We cannot rest until our mission is fulfilled! We must try every opportunity, we must battle endlessly, we cannot fail! We-"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ…

"… **_WAKE UP_**!"

()()()()()

"Agent Pyro to Agent Venus, the Wind Waker has approached the Power Source. Is the Maroon Blaze in position? Over."

"… Garet, what the _hell_ are you talking about?"

There was a sigh from the cone-shaped device Isaac held in his hand. Earlier that day, Jenna and Garet had been cleaning out their attic when they came across a pair of the cone shaped things connected by a tube. Strangely enough, when you spoke into one cone, the other could hear it by listening to the other cone, even across a room. After examining it, Ivan had concluded it originated from the fact that the tube was engineered so the sound waves (whatever _that_ was. Must be a Jupiter thing) could travel along the tube.

"What I mean is, Sheba is near the Psynergy Stone. Is Jenna ready?" Garet's voice came through the cone, slightly garbled but still understandable.

"Yeah. Yeah, she's ready."

"Good." Garet's voice came up. "Ivan, you're up."

"This thing itches." Jenna complained to Isaac. Rolling his eyes, Isaac merely motioned for Jenna to stand. Which she did so, rather grumpily.

"You look lovely in that colour." Isaac commented, which earned him a whack on his shoulder.

"Wish me luck." Jenna muttered, before moving off.

Isaac watched her crash through the bushes, and sighed. Truth be told, he would have though Jenna the last person to play this role. He would have much preferred Picard or Felix, if but nothing else than the fact that they were not so much as wild cannons. But Picard was found unconscious on Mt. Aleph, and showed no signs of waking up, and Felix… would more than likely try to kill himself (or maybe Ivan) before agreeing to this.

And as for third place… Mia? Isaac didn't even want to think about it. She'd run over and glomp Ivan and the entire plan would be off. Speaking of which, Isaac was still in a bad mood over the fact that Mia was… well, in love with Ivan. Sure, the effects were supposed to be temporary, but… he just had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

()()()()()

"Fuuurryy!" Cannon 's insistent moan broke Fury's concentration concerning the fuse he held. The connection was almost complete, but he had to weld it to the explosives or it wouldn't work.

"What is it?" Fury grumbled as he hopped down into the alcove.

"There's not enough space for the explosives on the peak." Cannon informed him. "We'll have to stick the rest underground. Can you, uh, make a second fuse?"

Fury sighed. His dreams of creating an explosion that would go down in history was becoming more and more complicated. It was worth it, of course. It'd just take longer, and more work.

"I'll work on it." He said wearily. "Just keep getting more explosives."

()()()()()

_I think I'll murder Garet later just for fun._ Jenna thought to herself as she peered through a tangle of leaves. Ivan was talking to Sheba, who was leaning against the psynergy stone. Both of them were currently smiling, and there was a dog hanging around as well, for some reason.

Suddenly, a rock hit her shoulder. Turning, she saw Isaac gesturing angrily for her to start going. With a sigh, she prepared to leap…

()()()()()

The kids were having the time of their life. The package was beginning to tear, and they were all squealing with anticipation of what they would find inside. Just a few more whacks…

And Felix tumbled out of the piñata, to shocked cries and stares from the kids. Scrambling to his kids, he glared down at them as he tried to salvage part of his wounded dignity. (Which didn't work too well, as he had streamers in his hair. And his mouth. And he had one in his nose as well. Ever seen someone with what looks like a long thin pink booger hanging from his nose? Ain't pretty.)

"Well." He began. "You've had your fun. I'm sure you enjoyed yourselves thoroughly. Now, please leave, BEFORE I RIP EVERY LAST ONE OF YOUR HEARTS OUT!!!"

The kiddies didn't need to be told twice. They were young, but contrary to most beliefs, they weren't stupid. Not _that_ stupid, anyway. And they knew a threat when they saw it. (Even coming from a guy with a pink booger.) They left, pausing only to scoop up several sweets that fell from the ripped piñata.

Dusting himself off, (and removing the streamers from his body), Felix headed off to the plaza to sulk.

()()()()()

Garet pushed aside the fronds obscuring his vision. Jenna was almost out of the undergrowth and-

Crap. She seemed to have gotten her leg stuck on a root of some kind. Angrily, he yanked at the cone and spoke into it.

"Agent Pyro to Agent Venus, do you-"

"Garet, stop that code talk crap. What?"

"Jenna's got her leg stuck. Go free it!"

"Wha-, oh for the love of Venus…" He could see Isaac struggling to free Jenna, and generally not succeeding at all. Not that Ivan seemed to care, Garet noted. He was currently talking to Sheba, a conversation punctuated by plenty of giggles.

Narrowing his eyes, he saw Jenna finally pull free of the irritating root, and leap out.

Good, and so it began…

()()()()()

Felix glared angrily at everything and everyone he met on the way down. That included tree roots, various stones, houses, several field mice, and a kid scoffing candy from the piñata. In fact, he was so busy glaring he walked straight into a wall without noticing.

As he rubbed his sore ear, he rounded the last corner and arrived at the stairs leading to the plaza. At this point, Felix was in a bad mood. In fact, you might say he was in a very bad mood. Actually, if you were to be precise, he was so angry he wished he could blast something, _anything_, with Grand Gaia, just so he could watch it get incinerated in a hail of Venus psynergy. And that would be putting it mildly.

Thus, it would come as no surprise that seeing Ivan and Sheba talking and laughing by the psynergy stone drop-kicked his mood from somewhere in the pissy range to the homicidal variety. With a growl, he started stalking towards the pair, who were apparently oblivious to anything other than each other.

Then, a cry sounded from the bushes. Whipping his head around, Felix noted that what appeared to be a mutant Kobold had emerged from the bushes, and was currently heading for Sheba.

_This is it!_ Felix though. _My chance to show Sheba my affection for her!_ With a mighty war cry, he lunged forward at the Kobold with a flying tackle that would have looked a lot more impressive had he actually hit it.

Struggling back to his feet, he charged the Kobold, knocking it to the ground, and started wrestling with it.

()()()()()

Sheba blinked as she stared at Felix. Beside her, Ivan seemed similarly gobsmacked, although he appeared to be watching the kobold instead. The Alsatian merely barked, as if trying to figure out which side he should root for.

One corner of Sheba's mind was trying to decide whether the fact that Felix was fighting a Kobold in hand-to-hand combat, or the fact that he was _losing_, was the more unbelievable factor. Despite the fact that another part wanted to laugh, she quickly came to a conclusion.

"C'mon, we have to help!" She cried. Ivan blinked and seemed to hesitate, but Sheba had already run forward. Muttering several magical words, she threw her hand out, casting Destruct Ray.

As the lightning bolts flew towards the Kobold, it seemed to sense the new threat, and flipped to the side… placing Felix directly in the line of fire. There was a muffled explosion, and a cloud of smoke was thrown up.

When it vanished, the Kobold was gone, leaving behind a (rather charred) Felix, and a pair of nonplussed Jupiter adepts.

()()()()()

"OW!" Felix yelled. "Be careful with that!"

"Just be glad I decided to heal you." Jenna stated matter-of-factly as she raised her hand and cast Aura again. "After all, it was the costume that got you to attack me in the first place."

"And we have another failure." Isaac shook his head. "Thanks to you, Mr. Felix. _You_ had to act all macho in place of Ivan. _He_ was supposed to do the saving."

The dark haired adept glowered. "It's not fair!" He ranted. "Why do you people go all out to help Ivan, and I get the shaft?!"

"Because I don't like you."

"Oh, suuurre… You don't like me, and that's reason enough, isn't it? Never mind my hopes, my dreams, my aspirations, my-" Then Felix stopped. "Who- uh, who said that, anyway?"

Meanwhile the author opened a portal and escaped back to the 'real' world.

()()()()()

Ivan patted the dog's head sadly before climbing up the stairs. Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the Valentine's Dance. And it was too late. With that last attempt… ridiculous as it may have been… it was over. Sparing a tiny sigh, he glanced up at the moon.

_Almost full_. He noted absentmindedly. _But not quite._ The same way he had with Sheba earlier. Almost, almost there. But not quite.

He was just supposed to distract her. Play the part of the hero later on. But… when they were talking, laughing together, something had just clicked. Something had been _there_. He had almost wished that Jenna didn't need to show up.

And Felix, well, who knew what he had been doing there anyway? But it had been broken. Whatever it was.

Sighing, he pulled back the covers and climbed onto the bed. Lying down, he stared at the ceiling for hours.

Tomorrow would be the Valentine's Day Ball. And he had failed. His last chance to get together with Sheba, and he had failed. The blessings would go to another.

A distant part of his mind reassured him. There would be another year, after all.

But the gaping reality of the fact that he had failed, badly, stayed in his mind. It was over.

It took Ivan a long time to get to sleep that night.


	7. Valentine's Day

The Great St. Valentine's Day Fiasco

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

It's here at last! The end of the romance/humor hybrid that was supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but ended up getting finished closer to Christmas. Will Ivan get the girl? Will Mia get back to her sense? Will Picard wake up? Will Felix get his just rewards (although some might argue he already has)? And what's with the Djinn? Read on to find out!

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Saturday

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Ivan heard Sheba humming an indistinct tune to herself as she prepared breakfast. Stumbling down the stairs, he rubbed sleep out of his eyes before turning to face Sheba. Right. Now or never.

"Hey… Sheba…" Ivan began. Sheba looked up from the pot for a moment.

"Yes?" She asked pleasantly.

Ivan sighed. "Look, there's, uh, something I need to… tell you…

Sheba nodded. "Okay… so… what is it?"

Ivan ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Well, you see… I don't really know how to say this, but… I… love you."

Silence.

Ivan ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I-uh, I understand if you don't return my feelings, but, uh, well… it's… it's been killing me for so long I can't even remember… I, well, I just needed to say it, so…"

Sheba was still staring at him with that same indecipherable expression on her face. Indecipherable. Not good.

Ivan gulped. "Please say something?" He squeaked.

He was prepared for many outcomes. He was prepared for Sheba to fall over laughing. He was prepared for her to blink and ask Ivan if he was serious about this. He was prepared for her to kick him out of the house and to scream at him never to darken her doorway again. He was also prepared, Sol willing, for the one-in-a-million (by his calculations, anyway) chance that she would reply "What a coincidence!"

What he was most definitely not prepared for was for her to tackle him to the floor and give him his first kiss (and by default the longest, even though it'd be a pretty damn good contender anyway.)

When it was finally over and Ivan and Sheba were busy gasping for air, it was then that Sheba replied, "I love you too."

Then Ivan woke up.

He lay there for a few minutes staring stupidly at the ceiling before slowly stumbling out of bed. As he yawned, he headed for the door.

"Reality." He mumbled to himself. "What a gyp."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Okay, name the seven wonders of the world."

"Lessee… the four Lighthouses count as one, right?"

"Yes, as does the four Rocks."

"Well then, there's Gaia's Rift, the Contigo Crater, um…, Lemuria, uh…, oh! Tundaria Tower, and uh…, um…… Oh, shoot!"

Jenna sighed. "Anemos, the Moon City, remember?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Garet grinned sheepishly. "I always forget that one! Wonder why?"

"Maybe you just can't store more than six items of any common topic in your thick skull." Jenna shot back.

"Guys? Can we stop playing around and get back on topic?" Isaac said snappily. He was _not_ in a good mood. The majority of last night had been spent thinking up plans to turn Ivan and Sheba into a serious couple within one day. And when the most plausible of them involved lots and lots of duct tape, you knew there was trouble.

"Aw, you're just cranky that your wife is currently in love with an eighteen year-old midget." Garet shot back.

"Ooh, burn." Jenna snorted

A Spire hurled from Isaac's outstretched arm reminded the Mars Adept that this was a subject best not broached at the time being.

Then again, they were all slightly cranky at the fact that despite all their best efforts, Sheba seemed utterly oblivious to the fact that the male Jupiter Adept of the group was currently pining for her.

There was a collective sigh from the group. Which was abruptly broken by a yell from Felix from the second story. Followed by a long series of heated shouts.

"Well, how was _I_ supposed to know that you were awake?"

"Might it be the fact that I was _moving_?" Came the testy reply. Isaac blinked and glanced upwards. Was Picard up?

"I thought it was rigor mortis or something!"

"Rigor mortis?! That's for deceased individuals! Are you trying to jinx me or something?" Definitely Picard. Isaac took the stairs two at a time and entered the room where they had rather unceremoniously dumped Picard's body like a sack of potatoes onto… well, several sacks of potatoes. Picard was definitely up and moving, and Felix was currently drenched and arguing vehemently with the Lemurian.

"Glad you're up." Isaac began.

Picard blinked and shook his head as if to clear it. Then, turning to regard Isaac, he asked curiously, "What day is it?"

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Breath sighed as she shoved another bolt into place on the support strut. Behind her, Gust was flitting around, offering encouragement and reminding them of the 10- hour deadline they had.

She glanced up, noting Spark and Geode balancing several cans of paint on their heads. "Ahoy, there!" Spark called cheerfully. "We got the extra paint you wanted!"

Breath nodded. "Pass it to Serac. He's in charge of artwork." With a sigh, he turned back to his work, ignoring the squeals in the distance as a snowball with what looked suspiciously like a Mars Djinni's tail sticking out rolled down Mt. Aleph. Hail was in a bad mood today.

Meanwhile, the Wise One was plotting. The Wise One did not plot on a regular basis. Plotting was for lessers. Lesser being sat around fretting over the best way to resolve a situation. The Wise One went out and did it.

However, owing to the fact that he (it?) had been securely wedged into a crack in Mt. Aleph owing to a bunch of irate djinn who had wished him to stop interfering, he was currently immobile. Not to mention one of them had started singing until all of his psynergy had been drained. Which was rather detrimental to his ability to move around or affect his surroundings, considering his lack of limbs.

Which left him with little to do other than plot the downfall of 72 little rat-sized buggers who were essentially embodiments of the elements, but to blazes with that he was going to hunt down each and every last one of them and slowly burn them into a crisp, except for the Mars Djinn, 'cuz they didn't really get affected by burning so maybe he'd just squash them or something, and then he'd have revenge, sweet revenge, mwahahahahahahaha……

Uh, yeah.

Between you and me, I think the Wise One's getting to be a little cracked.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Sheba flung open the doors of her cupboard, staring up and down at the rows of clothes hanging in there. With a sigh, she closed the door and flopped onto her bed.

She, like every other person living in Vale, had been excited by the prospect of going to the Valentine's Day dance. What was currently holding her attention, however, was he fact that she had discovered a rather serious shortage of available dresses for her to wear. And dances generally had "nice-looking attire" built into them by default. Unless it was a frat party or something.

In any case, this meant that she was left with nine hours, thirty minutes to find a dress for the dance. Make that nine hours, twenty-nine minutes.

Well, no sense lying around worrying about it. With a groan, Sheba hopped out of bed and set off to find a suitable set of clothing for the ball.

Elsewhere in the house, a young man entertained problems of a different, but no less pressing, nature. Ivan grumbled to himself as he rapidly sifted through the bags he had carried here when Sheba had agreed to grant him lodging AKA asylum. _Where on Weyard is it?_ Ivan thought irritably. Never mind the fact that he wasn't going to get Sheba to love him, the least he could do was to give her a present. Which he had thoughtfully purchased sometime in September last year. Unfortunately for him, he had neglected to keep in his mind where exactly he had shoved it and was now engaged in trying to find it before the ball started.

"Nope… nope… ah! No wait, that's my toothbrush…, no…"

The process might have gone slightly faster had he remembered what the item _was._

Meanwhile, the dog stared at the mess with confused eyes, before picking up a fist-sized item and carrying it off.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Felix was sitting on a chair.

You might think that there was nothing particularly special about sitting on a chair, and frankly, there wasn't. What however, was of note was the fact that he was currently surrounded by four adepts, all glowering at him.

Then Isaac sighed and began to speak. "Alright Felix, we've put it to a vote, and we'll allow you to attend the Valentine Day's ball, on the condition that you don't try anything funny with Ivan or Sheba.

"And if I don't agree?"

Garet smiled. "Then Jenna and I get to use you as target practice."

Felix snarled something under his breath before nodding.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Fury hopped over several connecting wires to Cannon, who had more or less finished grabbing all the boxes of explosive stuff and dumped them all over the mountaintop.

"Hey, Fur!" Cannon greeted him energetically. We've got all the stuff! So do we blow it now?"

"Stop calling me by that disgusting name!" Fury snapped. "And of _course_ we don't explode them now! We wait until the party, where it'll have the most impact!"

"Oh… so… what do we do now, then?"

"We wait." Came the response. Fury flopped down next to a crate and closed his eyes. Not that djinn _needed_ sleep, mind you, but after spending so long with the humans he had picked quite a bit of their mannerisms.

"…"

"…"

"… Fury?"

"What?"

"You ever wonder how so many explosives ended up under the mountain anyway?"

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Tucked away deep in the house of Garet's father was a single sheet of paper. On it were inscribed the words 'Contingency plan for protection of Sol Sanctum.' Also drawn on was a large star-shaped symbol that looked vaguely like an explosion. One might also note that there was an arrow pointing towards the star-shaped drawing that said "Boom!".

That might go a long way in explaining the explosives. Or it might have been a random plot point slapped together by the author in three seconds.

The world may never know.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

It was a normal day in Vale, Kay reflected. Other than the people were getting ready for the ball, the majority of the townsfolk were doing what they during their normal everyday lives.

Tough luck that she had been picked to be part of the group that was responsible for setting up the tents and stalls. With a sigh, she grabbed several planks of wood and walked over to the nearest booth. If she remembered the plans correctly, this would be a food stall when this ball started.

Sometimes she really wondered why the Elders didn't just elect to build a furshlugging hall and be done with it. During the reconstruction, she had suggested as much, but _nooooooo_, the plaza was _traditional_, the plaza was _adequate_, etc, etc. In any case, the psynergy stone needed to bless a couple (how a glowing rock managed to "bless" a pair of people was completely beyond her), and thus the St. Valentine's Day ball was to be held in the plaza.

Kay mumbled several profanities under her breath as she bent another nail. Mars, _what_ was with the materials the elders chose? Grumbling, she tossed the bent nail aside and was about to snag another one when a wild shout distracted her, and everyone else nearby.

Turning, she was just in time to see Ivan chasing a dog across the plaza, screaming obscenities more-or-less nonstop. As the pair neared the stand, she could make out what the blonde-haired midget shouting.

"You give that back RIGHT NOW!! Or else I'll string you up with your own tail when I catch you! Do you hear me?! Come back HERE!"

As Ivan said the last word, he lunged for the dog. However, in an amazing display of agility, it managed to backflip completely over the irate Jupiter Adept, sending Ivan hurtling straight into the booth.

The booth.

The booth that was meant to be a food-and-drinks stand for the ball.

The booth that had taken Kay five hours to set up.

The booth that now resembled a huge pile of dry wood, all ready to be tossed into a campfire.

The booth Ivan had just wrecked.

The booth Kay had poured her sweat and blood (owing to bad aim with a hammer) into.

_That_ booth.

Slowly, oh, _so_ slowly, Kay clenched her hands. A vein on her forehead began to throb.

"Oh, Ivan dear…" Kay said in a fake syrupy-sweet voice.

A board shifted and the blonde haired adept sat up, rubbing his head. "Stupid dog." He muttered. Then he looked up and noticed Kay staring down at him, one handing reflexively clutching and relaxing her hold on a hammer. "Er…" Ivan began. Experiences with Jenna dictated that when a female Mars adept was behaving in this manner, it was generally a good idea to put a fair bit of distance between you and her. This was even more so when she happened to be staring at you.

This little nugget of information in mind, Ivan rapidly got to his feet and started running.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

He peered with timeworn eyes at the scene before him. A young blonde with violet eyes was currently sprinting through Vale, arms flailing and mouth wide open in a continuous scream. Behind him charged an enraged red-haired girl, yelling a long stream of invective and swinging a hammer wildly. Keeping pace with the two of them was an Alsatian, who looked as if it were ready to bark in support of the blonde kid were it not for a strange object it clutched firmly in it's jaw.

He shook his head and turned to his partner. "Sure are a lot of weirdoes running around lately."

"A-yup."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Sheba was _this_ close to tearing her hair out in frustration. All the clothes shops in Vale were selling dresses. This was standard. They were all relatively cheap, as was also standard. Alas, the third part of the standard was that they all sucked. Big time.

Seriously, who in their right mind would wear a dress that was not only garish pink, but covered with polka-dots as well? 'The height of fashion', the salesman had said. She really, really dreaded seeing the depths of it, then.

Sheba sighed, and trudged wearily back to the house. As she opened the front door, Ivan ran through it screaming like a man possessed. A second later, Kay rebounded into the wall, and then stalked off swearing at Ivan in five different languages. Another second later, the Alsatian loped through the door, clutching a strange object firmly between it's jaws.

The emerald-eyed Jupiter adept blinked, shook her head, and silently resolved never to eat the 'magic' brownies again. _Ever._

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Do I really have to dress up _now_?" Garet whined as Jenna tied a noose on his neck. Or at least it felt like a noose to Garet. He would _never_, for the life of him, understand just why the long snake-shaped piece of cloth was considered such an important thing for formal occasions.

"Yes." Jenna replied snappishly. "It is stylish, not to mention dignified."

"And which of the two words look like they apply to me?"

"Forget it, Garet dear. You're not wiggling out of this one."

"Aw, nuts." Garet moaned. _Well,_ he consoled himself, _at least I don't have it half as bad as Isaac…_

-------------

"Do you think Ivan-chan will like my new dress?" Mia asked as she looked at herself in the mirror with a sapphire gown. Behind her, on the bed, Isaac rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he'll be quite surprised, Mia."

"Oh! That's good." Mia grinned.

Isaac shook his head and stood. This was getting absolutely ridiculous. After the ball he was going to have to find Kraden and ask him anything he knew about reversing the effects of whatever Ivan had done.

This was more or less a last-case scenario since Kraden had established early on that every single encounter was going to be a painful and life-draining experience. Emphasis on life-draining. After Kraden read that talking to plants could help them grow, he had single-handedly wiped out half the orchards to the south of Vale. Isaac shuddered. But, in the name of love (or stupidity), he was going to have do something suicidal and incredibly dumb for the sake of his wife.

Isaac blinked as the weirdest feeling of déjà vu came over him.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Gotcha!" Ivan howled in victory as he lunged forward, finally pinning the berserk dog to the floor. Reaching over, he pried the gift from the dog's mouth with a firm tug.

"At last!" Ivan crowed. Grinning, he opened his fist to reveal… a rock. An ordinary, plain rock. One without any distinct markings or characterizations whatsoever. Definitely not what he had been planning on giving Sheba for the party.

Meanwhile, the Alsatian, deathly confused about the whole thing, whined as it stared at it's new master. Whatever for did he feel such an urgent desire to seize that stone he had picked up earlier on?

"Oh, shut up." Ivan muttered as he suppressed an urge to scream.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

_I can't believe I was assigned to welcome foreigners…_ Picard thought to himself as he stood by the gateway to Vale, mouth stretched so tight he felt his skin was about to tear.

This was more or less necessary procedure, though. The Valentine's Day ball in Vale was known far and wide throughout Angara, and since psynergy had been released to the world, Vale had decided to open it's doors to the general public.

Which led to thousands of scholars rushing over to study the Adepts, observing their daily lives, trying to ascertain if it was hereditary or created from ingesting something in the water.

While everyone had been pretty annoyed at the scientists, they had drawn the line at doing gland examinations, and thus, they had diplomatically convinced the scientists to leave by assuring them that if they didn't, the Venus Adepts would cause the ground to open up and swallow them.

The scientists had rapidly departed after that.

But tales about how fabulous and wonderful the St. Valentine's Day parties in Vale were had spread, and on these days, people all over the continent showed up.

Which would have been a logistical nightmare had anyone bothered with records or anything like that.

"Hello, a very good afternoon to you, sir, welcome to Vale…" Picard had been doing this for over an hour now and he was currently not in the best of moods. "Hello, a very good afternoon to you, ma'am, welcome to Vale. Hope you enjoy the ball…"

Aaron stood beside him, doing the exact same thing, only with far more gusto. Picard would never be able to figure out how the little brat could be so freakin' cheerful after one straight hour of monotony. "Hello, good afternoon, sir, welcome to Vale…"

Well, at least he had it better than Kay. She was currently rebuilding her booth after something had knocked it down (Picard wasn't around to see who had done it, but rumours pointed to an undersized Jupiter Adept), and she looked mad enough to kill.

Then it happened.

"Hello, a very good afternoon to you, ma'a- _Feizhi_?!" Picard gaped as the lavender-haired girl stared around the town with slightly awed eyes.

"Yes, it's me." Feizhi smiled. "Um… Piker, was it?"

"…Picard." He corrected. Then he shook his head. "Uh… what are you doing here?"

"To attend the St. Valentine's Day ball, of course!" She replied, giving him an odd look.

"What? St. Valentine's Day? Oh, right. Right. Yes. Good." _Not good,_ Picard thought. If he remembered anything from her last encounter, it was that she was seriously obsessed with Isaac. Then again, it had been three years. Maybe she had forgotten-

"By the way, how's Isaac getting along." _Ah, bleep._ Picard thought. Opening his mouth, he stammered out, "I-Isaac, huh? Well, hehe, it's kind of a funny story…"

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"_She's_ supposed to be his wife?" Feizhi asked with a raised eyebrow, giving her, on the whole, a decidedly skeptical look. Not that Picard could blame her. Mia was currently not acknowledging anything anyone said unless it pertained to Ivan in some way.

"Uh, well… yeah. Sorta." Picard replied. "Look, why don't I buy you cup of coffee or something and I can explain this properly to you. Okay?"

Pausing one last time to shoot another look at Mia, whom Isaac was currently trying to restrain from running off towards where she believed Ivan to be (which was more or less a random direction since _no one_ knew where on Weyard the kid had been recently) with several strong coils of rope, Feizhi nodded and set off after Picard.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"It is time…" He started.

"After three long years… it is time. The time for our fury to be unleashed. For you to know… that all those years of mockery was not forgotten. We have returned… we shall repay every insult we were dealt tenfold. And you will tremble and despair… for we are strong."

"Checkmate." Haze sighed as she sat back. "Y'know, Core, if you'd spent less time trying to create intimidating speeches and actually _thinking_ about what moves you make, maybe you wouldn't suck at chess quite so much. We've been playing for what? Three years now? And you've lost every single game."

"Oh, shut up." Core snapped, feeling sorry for himself. Unfortunately, he was distracted from sinking into a nice warm bog of self-pity by the call of Breath.

"There you two are! Come _on_! It's almost done! We need all the help we can get! Especially Mars djinn! Hurry up."

"Coming, coming…" Haze laughed as she shot through the air. An instant later, Core followed, a red orb of Mars energy his source of levitation. A few more hours, and then, finally, _finally_, it would be done, and it would be shown that all their hard work would not be put to waste, that they truly _were_ worthy. And at last, he would receive the reward he so richly deserved…

"Core?" Haze broke in. "You're in your 'dramatic speech' mode again."

"… … Shut up."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Sheba shoved aside another pile of books as she sifted through her attic, poring over every nook and cranny in a desperate search for a decent dress. So far she had searched her bedroom, then the guest room, then the kitchen.

She refused to enter the bathroom on grounds that if she did do that, she'd be on an entirely new level of desperate. And she didn't want that.

In any case, she had a contingency dress. It was good enough to wear to the party, except for the fact that it was in a color she utterly detested. Oh, well. From the looks of things, she would have to end up wearing it anyway, so-

_Hang on…_ Sheba thought as she pulled at a strange package tucked away in a corner of the room. It was just the right size for a dress, too. Hardly daring to hope, she opened the box…

And gasped at the sight of quite possibly the most beautiful gown she had ever seen. She wasn't sure what material it was, but it was smooth as silk and shimmered, even in the dim light of the attic. As she hugged to her chest, she grinned to herself as she envisioned herself appearing at the party in that.

And Ivan would see her in it.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Several things in life you just don't do. This includes leaping off cliffs, sticking around in a burning building, fighting kids made of rubber (_definitely_ a no-no) and asking Garet to be in charge of the fireworks.

However, due to a massive (and we do mean _massive_) clerical error, the pointy-haired Mars Adept was in charge of the gunpowder-based entertainment for the Valentine's Day ball. At least Felix was helping. (Ostensibly)

Garet grinned as he dumped a huge pile of brightly coloured fireworks onto the already humongous pile in front of him. Grinning, he lifted his arm into the air in a symbol of victory. "Yes! It's perfect!"

"For an arsonist, sure." Felix mumbled as he picked up a orange coloured sparkler. Flipping it over, he read the warning label. "Must be certified firefighter in order to utilize." He mused. "… Does that mean he fights against fire or that he uses fire to fight?"

Glancing up, he saw Garet staggering under the weight of yet another humongous pile of fireworks. "Given circumstances, I hope it's the latter…"

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Knock knock."

"Go away."

The door opened and Isaac walked into the room, shaking his head as he stared at the prone form of Ivan. "Come on. Even if you haven't got Sheba to love you, you can still enjoy the ball."

"While staring at her."

"You can still enjoy the food."

"While getting torn up inside that she doesn't love me."

"You can just relax there."

"And angst about her."

"… You know what? Screw this." Isaac snapped. Raising his hand, he gestured to the wooden bed. Instantly, vines and creepers began sprouting over the frame, shooting over the mattress.

Which was extremely helpful in getting a certain Jupiter Adept out of bed, even if not out of his funk. But whaddya gonna do?

Isaac walked over and placed a comforting arm on Ivan's shoulder. No, that does _not_ mean they are gay (in either sense of the word), people (and I utilize the term loosely).

"C'mon, snap out of it." Isaac urged. "Even if you don't feel happy, the least you can do is show up."

"Mmmrgrrfpht."

"Do it or I will personally invite Mia over."

"You are a cruel man to use your own wife as bargaining power."

"It pays the bills. Now hurry up and get changed. It starts in an hour."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Almost done, Breath." Gust reported cheerfully. He had good reason to be cheerful. The project that had taken him a whole week to finish was going to be finished in a couple of hours, and then they would-

He was interrupted as Flint's head popped out of the ground. "Supports look about right. I figure it'll hold."

Squall fluttered down. "The rest of the Jupiter Djinn are standing by for your signal."

A fireball flew down to smash into Flint's face, knocking him back. "Whoops, sorry." Scorch apologized as he walked over. "I was trying to hit Squall."

"Ooh…" Flint moaned as he sat up. "Anyone get the number of that fireball that hit me?" Then he blinked. "Ah! I can't feel my nose! I can't feel my nose!"

"Do you even _have_ a nose?" Breath queried.

"… Come to think of it…"

"Anyway," Scorch began. "The Mars Djinn are all in place for illumination duties, something which, might I add, they will do infinitely better job of than the Jupiter Djinn."

"Was that an insult, flame-face?" Squall snarled.

"On you it's a compliment, fan-head!"

"Fan-head?! You take that back or-"

"Or what? You'll huff and puff and-"

"Break it up. _Now_." Flint said. And when Flint said something, you did it. No questions asked. Squall and Scorch backed off, although they were still trading nasty looks at each other.

"Right, anyway…" Flint continued. "If the reports are to be believed, we're almost done. All we need is-"

"Me. And I'm here." Fizz stated calmly as she hopped down from a rocky outcropping. "The Mercury Djinn have completed all tasks assigned to them."

Djinn have no mouths, but Breath managed to smile anyway. "Good. Now all we need to do is wait." She turned to look at the party gathering below. It was going to be a magical night indeed…

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Garet sighed and leaned back, loosening his tie. "We're supposed to ignite the fireworks only after the blessing has been passed, right?"

"Yes, which leaves me plenty of time to angst about Sheba."

"Can it, you're not right for her anyway."

"Whaddya mean by that?"

"Well, I don't really think she'd prefer a… stalker kind of boyfriend, y'know?"

"No. I don't."

"Just trust me. Bad idea."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Jenna stepped out of the house, whistling as she headed to the plaza. As she began her walk towards the Ball, she saw Picard practically fall over himself in his bid to jump into his formal wear.

As he recovered his balance, he staggered to his feet and muttered something about hanging himself with that 'idiotic tie'.

Jenna merely chuckled and shook her head.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Isaac stepped out the house, looking particularly stunning in his regal tuxedo. This effect was somewhat ruined by Mia attempting to break free from him and go off in search of her Ivan-chan.

No matter. Somehow managing to restrain her, Isaac sighed and began the journey to the plaza.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Ivan emerged from the doorway, looking like the cute little Jupier Adept we all know and love. Just, uh, you know, ignore that last part. Anyway, as he sighed, he turned to pat the dog on the head.

"Wish me luck." He muttered. Then he turned, and began making his way to the plaza, where the St. Valentine's Day ball awaited.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Ivan? Ivan?" Sheba peered into the room, only to find that it was empty. "Oh, well." She murmured. "I guess I'll still find him at the ball."

Ducking her head out, she headed for the doorway of the house, a smile on her lips.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

It was the perfect kind of ball. It had dancing, beautiful music, delicious food, people ready to enjoy themselves, and so much more.

Ivan should have been enjoying himself.

But he wasn't. Instead he was decked out on a chair at the side, feeling lousy, and watching his friends have the time of their lives.

At least Sheba wasn't around. Or maybe that was a bad thing. Ivan desperately wanted to see her, of course. But he had no clue, none whatsoever, as to what he was actually supposed to _say_ to her. After Felix's stunt with Jenna yesterday, he wasn't sure how to deal with her.

With a sigh, he turned to watch the other members of the party enjoying themselves. Well, with any luck he'd get through this unscathed… mentally or otherwise.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Garet twisted and turned through the crowd as he balanced a tray groaning under the weight of a veritable mountain of food. Felix sighed as he watched the antics of his friend.

"Remember, you've got to be ready to go light the 'works at a moment's notice. So don't go getting all distracted by the smorgasbord you've collected for yourself."

"Wkmpf nmmph ssmppff mff mff." Garet replied, which translated roughly into "The Blessing doesn't start for two hours, clodbrains."

"I know, I know. We need to be prepared, is all."

Swallowing his current mouthful, Garet leaned back and sighed. "If only Ivan and Sheba were the ones chosen today, it'd be perfect." Opening an eye, he glared at Felix. " 'Course, if a certain ponytailed Venus Adept hadn't decided to stick his big mug into things…"

"I find it highly discriminatory that you choose me as a convenient scapegoat. Have you considered the fact that Ivan and Sheba were never really meant to be together?"

"Sure, and Saturos was a man given to cool, rational debates over the best course of action."

Felix muttered something under his breath and settled down to nap. The Ball didn't really hold much interest to him.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Picard took a long swallow from his glass of alcohol. After replenishing their stocks from Tuesday, Vale and Vault were more than ready to give the best they had for the St. Valentine Day's ball.

The fact that Master Hammet had sent over a couple dozen crates of specially-aged wines from Tolbi didn't hurt either.

As he walked past the crowds milling around, he spotted a familiar face sitting at the sidelines, smiling and watching the action. Shrugging, he made his way across.

"Master Hama?" Picard asked. She looked up startled. "Oh, it's Picard, isn't it?"

"Yes. You haven't changed much since I last saw you. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know." She smiled slightly as she gestured. "Feizhi wanted to come, but her father wouldn't allow her to go alone, and well, letters were sent, and somehow I ended up tagging along."

"Ah. Then you didn't really have an agenda in mind when you arrived."

"Not really. I prefer to keep to myself, most of the time."

"Well then, perhaps you'd care to join me for a dance?"

Hama smiled. "Why, I think I'd enjoy that very much."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Jenna skirted around the edge of the main dance area towards Ivan, who was sitting on the sidelines, looking more or less dejected.

"Why so blue?" She asked as she sidled up next to him.

"As if you don't know."

Jenna shook her head and clapped Ivan on the back. "Ivan have you ever heard this saying? 'Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it never gets you anywhere."

"Hey, Jenna, have you ever heard this saying? 'If all you need to inspire you is a clichéd phrase, you have no idea what real problems are.'"

"Oh, sure. Be snide. I was only trying to help."

Ivan sank his head even lower. "I don't want your help."

"No, but I can tell you need it."

"… Okay, so what should I do, O great auburn-haired one?"

"For starters." Jenna got to her feet and hoisted Ivan up as well. "Stop moping. And try to enjoy yourself. Even if you can't find anyone to dance the night away with, try to mingle. Don't look as if you're next to listen to Kraden debate Alchemy theory. That just makes people feel uncomfortable. Now go." She gave Ivan a small shove.

"Alright, alright." Ivan grumbled as he stumbled forward. Then, as if considering an afterthought, he turned back. "Jenna?"

"Hnn?"

Ivan smiled. "Thanks."

The Mars Adept grinned. "Anytime."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Fury?"

" 'Bout time you started calling me right." The elder Mars Djinni grumbled to Cannon "Well?"

"We're, uh, we're ready."

Fury sniggered. If you didn't know what it was, you would have found it sounded vaguely like a rat sneezing. But it was djinni sniggering. Trust me.

It was time. And soon the name of Fury would go down in history.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Breath watched as a tiny purple streak headed straight for her from the sky. As it fell, it coalesced into the instantly recognizable form of Gust.

Well, recognizable if you were a fellow Djinni or you spent a large amount of time among them. To a random outsider it would looked like an oversized purple rat. But I digress.

"Almost." He said as soon as he touched down. "She's almost there."

Breath turned to the others. "I want every djinn on maximum alert! It's almost done! Look sharp, guys!"

Instantly, several dozen flashes of colour indicated the djinn zipping off to their respective positions. No one wanted to fail.

After all, this was in the best interests of several of their Adept friends.

Or to be more precise, a pair.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Ivan blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes. Then he blinked again.

The reason for his befuddlement was immediately clear to anyone who knew intimate things about his personal history. Which was somewhere around the number of two (mostly Isaac and Sheba). Thus, I guess it isn't really right to lump it under 'immediately clear' after all. Oh, well.

In any case, Sheba was standing slightly to the side, near a booth, laughing gaily. While she looked absolutely breathtaking, that wasn't really the reason why he was dumbfounded.

She was wearing a beautiful gown, in hues of shimmering amethyst that practically glowed. To Ivan it was perfect. The perfect dress for the girl he loved.

However, while getting close, it was still not the reason for Ivan's shock.

The true reason was that he suddenly remembered what his Valentine Day's gift to Sheba had been. It had been wonderful. It had been perfect. He had been absolutely thrilled to find it because it suited her perfectly and he just _knew_ she would love it.

His Valentine's Day gift had been the dress Sheba was now wearing.

Ivan rubbed his eyes once more, just to ascertain the little devils weren't playing tricks with him. Nope. Still wearing the dress.

The certainty of this fact caused Ivan to very rapidly degenerate into a mental state that we contemporary types commonly refer to as 'nuclear meltdown'.

Which didn't really make for a pretty picture. Trust me.

Gulping, Ivan wheeled around, ready to head to the opposite site of the plaza.

Only to face his friends (well, five of them anyway. Mia was currently tied to a deckchair to prevent her running off) all staring at him expectantly.

Isaac with his yellow scarf, still on even with his formal wear, and his quiet, confident smile.

Garet with his big grin, his arms folded, and a 'what are you waiting for?' expression.

Jenna with her sympathetic eyes, silently urging him on.

Picard, with his sister standing beside, both looking at Ivan with steadfast expectation in their faces.

Even Felix, sitting on a side bench, staring at him out of the corner of his eye, as if daring Ivan to muff this one.

Ivan swallowed hard. He appreciated their support, he really did, but it just… wasn't… enough. He couldn't face Sheba. He just couldn't.

His legs moved. Slowly. Jerkily. He took one step forward. Away from Sheba.

The smile vanished from Isaac's face. Then, he, too, stepped forward.

And raised his arm, his hand clenched into a fist.

An instant later, Garet did likewise.

Then Jenna. Then Picard.

Then Garet nudged Felix, who rolled his eyes, stood, and raised a clenched fist too.

Ivan stood staring, as a memory long buried wormed it's way free

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"_Ivan!_ " _Isaac called to the Jupiter Adept. "Can you stand?"_

_He wasn't sure if he wanted to. Every part of his body hurt. Every nerve, every sinew burned in agony. Courtesy of a direct hit from the Doom Dragon, of course._

_Slowly, his hand reached for the Tisiphone Edge, lying on the cold rock of the aerie. Slowly, trembling, his hand reached out, every muscle silently screaming in protest, until the sword pointed straight up into the frigid night sky._

_"Ivan!" Isaac's voice again. "Don't push yourself! We can deal-"_

_"No." Ivan whispered. "I can fight. I don't care how tough it is, how powerful it is. I won't give up. As long… as long as I can lift my sword, and hold it high, I can fight. And I won't… ever…give up._

_No matter what._ Ivan stood, staring at the ground, as he tried to rein in his tears. He wasn't very successful by any standards.

Then, turning, he headed towards Sheba.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"…" Isaac stared at the retreating form of the Jupiter Adept. "You go, Ivan." He grinned.

"Twenty gold says he screws this one up." Felix opined.

Jenna walked over and slapped her brother in the face.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Sheba?" Ivan queried. At the sound of his voice, Sheba turned. "Yes?"

"C-could I, uh, talk to you in private?" Ivan asked sheepishly.

Sheba blinked at this request. "Why, sure. Is there… anything wrong?"

"Huh? Oh! Oh, no. Not at all!" Ivan babbled, then mentally slapped himself. "Uh, this way, please…"

As he led Sheba to a more- or- less secluded area, Ivan attempted to manually review just what he was going to say. Too bad someone had decided to set everything Ivan had in his mind to 'erase' or 'access denied'.

As he mentally fumbled for the words that he was going to say, Sheba continued looking at him with a slightly puzzled smile.

Ivan cleared his throat. Then he did it again. Then a third time. Had his suit always been this warm. Opening, his mouth, Ivan began, "Well.."

"Actually…" Sheba began shyly. Ivan blinked. "Uh, you have something to tell me too?" He asked. Flushing slightly, she nodded, eyes downcast.

"Well, er, then, why don't you go first?" He asked.

"What? Oh, no! You should go first. You asked me, after all."

"No, no." Ivan insisted. "It can wait. What do you have to tell me?"

"No, you go first. Please."

"But-" Ivan shook his head. This was getting nowhere. Screwing his eyes shut, he said a two-second prayer to any higher being out there that happened to be listening. Then opening his mouth, he said the three words that had always seemed so difficult to utter, and yet came out of his mouth so easily.

"I love you.", Ivan and Sheba said at the exact same time. Then their eyes flew open and their hands flew to their mouths, as they realized what had just happened.

"Whoa." Isaac muttered from his vantage point in a bush. "Talk about serendipity."

"Down, you idiot!" Jenna hissed as she pulled him back into a crouching position. "You want to get us discovered?"

Ivan and Sheba, however, were in a world of their own right then.

"Did you just say… what I _thought_ I heard you say?" Ivan questioned, not trusting his own ears.

Sheba, by then red as a beetroot, nodded, eyes transfixed on her shoes. "A- and, what you said, was it true? Do you… really love me?"

Ivan said nothing for a few minutes as he stared deep into her emerald eyes, as he remembered what it had been like all those years ago when he had first laid eyes on her in Babi's palace, and then their journey through the wilds, her laughter, her wide, beautiful smile…

"I do." He whispered, just loud enough for Sheba to hear. "I love you. With all of my heart."

Sheba raised an arm to wipe away the tears of joy brimming in her eyes. "Oh, Ivan." She murmured.

They stood this way for over a minute, both locked in their joy at this sudden revelation, that the affection they had felt for each other was truly requited, and a sudden exhilarating rush of nervousness.

Then Ivan, scratching his head, asked sheepishly. "Would it, uh, lower my credibility any if I kissed you right now?"

Sheba chuckled. "Let me think." Then, reaching over, she pulled him close, their lips meeting and bringing forth a new surge of joy and sensation. "Nope." She whispered into his ear as she pulled away from the kiss.

Then their eyes widened again, as a violet aura sprung up around them both, the energy dancing and merging with each other's until a distant observer might see only a single being standing there in the night, shining with the purest light of Jupiter.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"The psynergy stone!" Someone shouted. "It's glowing!"

Instantly every head was turned to the center of the plaza, where the purple crystal pulsed and glowed with psynergetical brilliance, signifying that the blessing had been passed, that a couple would never be sundered as long as they lived and their love remained true.

As heads turned and people desperately searched, Garet nudged Felix. "Toldja."

"Yeah, yeah." Felix grumbled. Then, upon hearing a match strike, he turned to see Garet putting a flame to a long line of string that connect all the fireworks to a single fuse.

"You _idiot!"_ Felix howled. "You don't release them all at once!"

"Relax." Garet assured Felix over the _hiss_ing sound as the fire wound it's way through the rope. "It's aimed at Mt. Aleph."

Felix could only shake his head as he watched the fireworks ignite with a thunderous roar.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"What was that?" Ivan asked as he saw what appeared to be an enormous flaming cloud flew through the air, screaming on a course straight to Mt. Aleph. An instant before the cloud impacted, it burst into a brilliantly coloured array of lights and flames.

And Ivan and Sheba's jaws dropped as they saw what was on the mount.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Gust ol' buddy?"

"Yeah, Breath?"

"I think we did good."

"We did indeed."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

On the surface of Mt. Aleph was a gigantic signboard, recently erected, and large enough to be seen even from the plaza.

On it was a huge painted sign, with black lettering that inked out the words 'Ivan N Sheba 4ever!'

Sheba stared at the sign for a few moments, willing herself not to laugh out loud. Ivan, meanwhile, seemed more embarrassed than anything else. "That is _so_ like them." He muttered.

Then the top half of the mountain exploded.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Fury had calculated that the sound from the explosion would reach the plaza. That was correct. He had calculated that the explosion would draw the attention of practically everyone there. That was also correct. He had also calculated that none of the rocks would be heavy enough to make it's way to the plaza and thus hurt people. This was, fortunately, also correct.

What he had not calculated was the Wise One's weight. It was more than light enough to make it's way to the plaza, as it was currently doing.

It also happened to be screaming something about vengeance being brought on the djinn, but that was beside the point.

The point was that it was headed towards a deckchair in which a particular Mercury Adept was tied to.

"MIA!" Isaac yelled as the Wise One impacted the ground, throwing up clods of dust and soil. As he ran over to the deckchair, he resolved to find a way to hurt the Wise One. Badly.

Rolling over the currently unconscious bulk, he gave a gasp of relief as he noted that his wife was dusty, coughing, but very much alive.

"What in the world?" She managed, before struggling out of the crater. As soon as she was out of the crater, Isaac tackled her. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Uh… thanks." Mia coughed again as she slumped onto another chair nearby. Just then, Ivan and Sheba came running up, followed closely by Picard, Felix, and Garet, all cradling several very groggy djinn in their hands.

Upon noticing their arrival, Mia glanced up, which caused Ivan to tense noticeably (and with good reason.) She smiled weakly. "Hi."

Everyone blinked. Then Isaac pointed to Ivan and said, "Uh, Mia? This is Ivan."

"Well, yes, I can see that…"

"And you, uh, don't feel like glomping or chasing him?"

Mia lifted an eyebrow. "Why would I want to? I mean, sure, he's a little easier on the eyes than some people I could mention, but-" Then she gasped, and was on her feet in an instant. "Ivan!"

Ivan tensed up again and prepared to get his legs in high gear, but as it turned out, it wasn't necessary. Mia was merely pointing, not chasing. "That aura!"

Then _everyone_ noticed what was earlier so apparent. Ivan and Sheba, standing side by side, had a purple glow about them that merged seamlessly with the other. Sheba nodded sheepishly. "I know. It was like this a few minutes ago, but I don't-"

"Don't you get it?" Mia squealed. "It means you've been chosen! _You're_ the ones who've received the blessing, sillies!"

Ivan was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that everyone around him was cheering and clapping for them both. As the two lovers turned red as tomatoes and stared at the ground, Gust and Breath, newly arrived from Fury Explosive airlines, stared at each other with pride.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Felix sighed. _So Ivan's got Sheba now._ Draining his glass, he slammed the mug back onto the table and sighed. _And I'm left with jack._ Sighing again, he signaled for the server to bring him another mug of ale. _Oh, well. I guess SOMEONE out there has to be right for me. Just wasn't Sheba. Have to keep looking._

Feizhi sighed. "I can't believe I came all the way here just to find Isaac's already married. Oh, well. Must be fated for them or something. Guess I'm just destined to be a lonely soul, after all…"

Felix lifted his head, and he caught sight of a young girl with violet hair at the other end of the table, muttering to herself.

Feizhi glanced up in time to see a dark-haired youth looking at her curiously. The wind blew through the plaza, whipping his hair around his face, partially obscuring his eyes.

Felix returned to his drink. _What a loser._

Feizhi sniffed. _Now that is a total wreck. Who'd ever want someone like him?_

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Oh, look. I think the aura's worn off." Sheba said softly as they stood in the doorway of her house.

"So it has."

She stood, gazing deep into his eyes. Why hadn't she realized before? It had always been there, on the edge of her consciousness, a deep affection for Ivan. And now it was brought to the forefront, as it had slowly been doing so for the past week, leaving no doubt in her mind.

_This_ was the man she loved. Ivan, and no one else, was the one she wanted to spend her life with.

Just then, the dog appeared in the doorway, whining at the two of them expectantly. Ivan chuckled and leaned down to pat it's head. "Settle down, Ananda. We're back."

"Ananda?" Sheba asked playfully.

"It just sounds right." Ivan replied.

"Well then." Sheba gestured. "Shall we?"

"… Does that mean I get to sleep in the same bed as you tonight? Hey- Ow!" Ivan yelped as Sheba bonked him on the head.

"Idiot." She smirked.

As she was about to turn and enter the house, Ivan suddenly grabbed her hand. "No, wait. Come here."

"Ivan, what-" was all she managed before he led her through the maze of stairs and passages through Vale, a playful grin etched on his face. Suddenly, he stopped and pointed. "Here."

Sheba's mouth hung open as she stared at the grassy area, at the tallest point of Vale. A single tree stood in the space. "Do you remember?" Ivan asked. "When we first returned to Vale? This was the tallest point in the village, the place where the wind blew strongest. On dry nights that I couldn't sleep I'd come out here to watch the stars. They were beautiful." Then he smiled. "C'mon."

Sheba followed Ivan, still protesting mildly. "Ivan, I don't think-"

"Shhh." He grinned as he lay down on the grass, arms folded behind his head to support it. "Just try it."

Hesitantly, Sheba smoothed a patch of grass next to Ivan and lay down next to him. He was right, she had to admit. The stars _were_ beautiful. And lying down here, next to him, wasn't half-bad either.

"There's Procne." Ivan said in a dreamy voice. "He always was my favourite constellation as a kid."

Sheba smiled. "Mine too. When I could see him. He usually didn't show over Lalivero"

Lying there, staring at the infinite darkness above them, Sheba felt herself slowly drifting off to sleep. She murmured sleepily to herself, and moved closer to Ivan, before falling into a deep slumber.

Ivan blinked at the unexpected contact. Then slowly, so as not to wake her up, he rolled her onto her side, his arms wrapped around her torso. Then, a smile on his face, he drifted off to sleep himself.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"Wait, you mean I chased after Ivan for the whole week? The poor guy!" Mia exclaimed.

"Don't feel too bad." Isaac consoled her. "He doesn't blame you."

"That's _some_ comfort, I guess." Mia grinned. "Hey, what's up over there?" Garet, Jenna, and Picard could be seen standing at the entrance to Sol Sanctum, staring at something off to the side.

Hurrying over, they were greeted by Jenna's call of "Over here." Walking to her side, Mia gasped at the sight.

Directly below them lay a grassy cliff, a single tree providing shelter. To the side, lay Ivan and Sheba, embracing each other in their sleep.

"They are _such_ a cute couple." Jenna smiled.

"So they ended up together after all…" Picard grinned. "Actually, I'm not that surprised."

"So, Mia." Isaac chuckled to the night air. "Everything turned out pretty well after all."

"Don't you just love a happy ending?" Garet grinned.

"Love 'em. Absolutely love 'em."

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

_The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return_ – Some guy whose name I cannot be bother to remember

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

So, it's finally over. Thanks to all readers and reviewers. Thank you for your support.

So, what's next, I hear you ask? Well, I'll finish Sands, of course.

Then… I suppose I'll try my hand at a sequel. After all, Ivan and Sheba have got to get married sometime, ne?

Heh, but until then, ciao!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. And maybe not even that.


End file.
